A second bus of migrants originating in Texas arrived at a Los Angeles, California, church on Saturday, weeks after the first bus arrived at the same location.
The 41 migrants, including 11 children, were transported on a bus from Brownsville, Texas, and dropped off at St. Anthony’s Croatian Church, according to Fox 11.
The migrants had arrived in the U.S. from eight different countries, including Cuba, Belize, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venezuela. They were welcomed to the church by community members and organizations.
"We are still putting together all the details about this group of asylum seekers on the Brownsville bus, but if Los Angeles is their last destination, we will ensure this is the place where they get a genuine and humane reception," The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights executive director Angelica Salas told Fox 11.
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The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights is the largest immigrant rights organization in California.
"As we have indicated before, the more time we are given to coordinate and prepare our response, the better we can serve these men, women, and children who have already experienced traumatic events throughout their journey in their search for freedom and happiness," Salas said. "As we approach the long 4th of July weekend, it is befitting to remember that migrants also know struggle and perseverance, and they too seek a better tomorrow where their lives will be valued and celebrated under the banners of justice and compassion."
The first bus of migrants dropped off at the same church arrived on June 14 with around 40 people who had entered the U.S. through the Southern Border.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, claimed responsibility for that bus carrying migrants to Los Angeles. The governor began sending busloads of migrants to sanctuary cities last August and has said he will continue to do so until the federal government fixes the immigration crisis at the border.
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"Texas just dropped off the 1st bus of migrants in Los Angeles," Abbott wrote in a tweet after the first bus to Los Angeles arrived last month. "Small Texas border towns remain overrun & overwhelmed because Biden refuses to secure the border. LA is a city migrants seek to go to, particularly now its leaders approved its self-declared sanctuary status."
Migrant buses have been sent from Texas to other sanctuary cities including Chicago, New York City and Washington, D.C.
