The fifth bus carrying migrants from the Texas-Mexico border region to Los Angeles arrived at Union Station late Saturday morning.
According to a statement from a spokesperson for L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, the bus arrived around 11:30 a.m.
“The city has continued to work with City Departments, the county and a coalition of nonprofit organizations, in addition to our faith partners, to execute a plan set in place earlier this year,” a spokesperson for the mayor said. “As we have before, when we became aware of the bus yesterday, we activated our plan.”
The first bus carrying migrants from Texas arrived in Los Angeles on June 14, with other buses arriving on July 1, July 13 and July 18.
Forty-four migrants, including 21 children, were on the bus that arrived Saturday, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights said. Their countries of origin included Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Venezuela, China and Haiti.
Some of the migrants had families who were living in L.A. and were waiting for them, CHIRLA said. CHIRLA also assisted in coordinating onward travel needs for those whose final destination wasn’t Los Angeles.
“We are making sure that [the migrants] arrive safely and that they are welcomed with dignity and respect,” said CHIRLA Executive Director Angelica Salas. “They will be meeting with sponsors and family members…many of them are seeking asylum in Los Angeles but [others] have the opportunity to connect with family members who are already here.”
According to Governor Greg Abbott, small border towns in Texas are “overwhelmed and overrun” by migrants.
“Los Angeles is a major city that migrants seek to go to, particularly now that its city leaders approved its…sanctuary city status,” Abbott said in a June press release.
The busing of migrants started in April 2022 when Governor Abbott directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to charter buses to transport migrants from Texas to Washington, D.C.
Since then, Abbott has added New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Denver as busing destinations.
Sofia Pop Perez contributed to this report.