The El Paso, Texas, city government last week sent over a dozen migrants to New York City as part of Gov. Greg Abbott's busing policy for incoming asylum seekers, El Paso Matters reports.
The Office of Emergency Management "has sponsored and provided transportation services for migrants out of El Paso, which is reimbursable through [the Federal Emergency Management Agency]," Deputy City Manager Mario D'Agostino told El Paso Matters. "OEM has sponsored charter buses to include a recent transport to New York City; this was the preferred destination for those without any means to travel."
Shaina Coronel, director of communications with the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, told El Paso Matters that over 200 migrants arrived in the city on five busses last Thursday, and expressed frustration with a lack of coordination and communication.
"Texas Gov. Abbott's office remains unwilling to coordinate and communicate with us on when these buses are arriving and how many people they're carrying, but we've been working with nonprofits on the ground [in Texas] to prepare as best we could," she said.
Ruben Garcia, the founder of Annunciation House in El Paso, an organization that helps migrants, told the outlet that religious groups play an important part in helping migrants looking to live in the United States.
"If faith communities in the interior of the U.S. would all be willing to receive one charter bus every week or two, there would be no hospitality issue all along the U.S. border with Mexico," he said.
"We wouldn't have to blindly send chartered buses to D.C., New York, and Miami. In other words we would not play politics with human lives and instead have a living, breathing Statue of Liberty," he added.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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