Editor TLN
First modification:
In the United States, the cold was no excuse for buses full of migrants to be sent from Republican states to cities like Washington, where they were dropped off in front of the official residence of Vice President Kamala Harris. In this city they were treated and sent to an improvised shelter so that they would not suffer from the inclement weather of winter.
In the early hours of Easter Sunday, in the midst of the cold wave that is sweeping the United States, three buses full of migrant families from Texas arrived in Washington, the US capital, and stopped in front of the residence of the vice president, Kamala Harris.
The Texas authorities have not confirmed that they sent the migrants, although on previous occasions the governors of border states have tried with these facts to draw attention to the immigration policies of the Biden Administration.
The buses were carrying between 110 and 130 people, according to Tatiana Laborde, managing director of SAMU First Response, a Washington relief agency that cares for thousands of people who have arrived in recent months.
The organizations expected the migrants to arrive this Sunday, Laborde said. Among the people on board were small children. Despite temperatures hovering around minus 9 degrees Celsius, some were only wearing T-shirts. The night of December 24 was the coldest on record in Washington, according to the Washington Post.
Laborde also said that the team was prepared to welcome people with blankets and that they were immediately sent to an area church where a local restaurant chain donated dinner and breakfast.
The migrants said they were mostly heading to other cities like New York or New Jersey where they have relatives and expected to stay in Washington for only a short time. “Lately, what we have been seeing is an increase in people coming from Ecuador and Colombia,” Laborde added.
Gov. Greg Abbott, who declined to comment, has bused more than 15,000 people since April to Democratic-run cities including Washington, New York, Chicago and Philadelphia.
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, like Abbott, harshly criticize President Joe Biden for his management of the US-Mexico border, where thousands try to cross into US territory every day, often seeking asylum.
The border authorities of both countries are seeking emergency help to set up shelters and services for migrants, some of whom are sleeping on the streets.
A fight between Republicans and Democrats
For Republicans, the immigration crisis on the southern US border is the fault of the Biden Administration, since according to them they have relaxed the restrictions and this has encouraged many people to leave their homes and embark on the journey in search of the American dream.
But the government has ended some policies and maintained others that were put in place during the presidency of Donald Trump, who also faced spikes in border crossings and even separated families and children as a deterrent.
White House spokesman Abdullah Hasan called sending buses to other cities a “cruel, dangerous and shameful stunt” and said the administration has repeatedly stood ready to work with anyone, Republicans or Democrats alike, in Real solutions like comprehensive immigration reform and border security measures that President Biden sent to Congress on his first day in office, but these political games accomplish nothing and only put lives at risk.”
Facing the cold, thousands spend Christmas at the border
A Guatemalan family of 15 people, after fleeing the violence in their country, arrived in Ciudad Juárez where they spent Christmas night in a ceremony organized in a shelter near the border.
A church in the Buen Samaritano shelter was in charge of the service, although without a point of comparison with the celebrations in their place of origin, Nueva Concepción, where there are always fireworks, tamales that are shared door to door with families and people from the town. they make a procession with the statue of the Virgin Mary. For Marlon Cruz, 25, a cassava and plantain farmer in Guatemala, “it’s hard to leave those traditions behind, but you had to abandon them anyway.”
Migrants of other nationalities took part in the Christmas festivities, this is the case of Haitians who are not used to these celebrations, but took part as a sign of union with the community.
Tens of thousands of people have fled violence and poverty in their countries of origin and spend Christmas in crowded shelters or on the streets of border cities, where they are victims of organized crime and also face the weather ravages.
The Biden government has not lifted the restrictions imposed by Title 42, a law that comes from the Trump administration that put a stop to asylum seekers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Some red states have asked the Supreme Court to uphold the measure, arguing that the number of migrants is reaching record highs. There is still no date for the High Court to make the decision.
