Dozens of Latin American migrants placed on a California-bound bus from Texas at the behest of that state’s governor and dropped off in Downtown Los Angeles appeared Thursday to have found new accommodations after relief and humanitarian groups descended on the church that briefly housed them.
Meanwhile, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday he was planning to continue such actions, even as local officials continued to slammed them as political stunts while vowing to welcome those seeking sanctuary.
The 42 migrants — among them an estimated 16 children, including some infants — were taken from the depot on Wednesday to St. Anthony Croatian Catholic Church in nearby Chinatown, where they got immediate attention from aid groups and public safety teams who knew they were coming. Officials said the migrants came from countries including Guatemala, Honduras and Venezuela.
Most spent the night at the church, although officials said some were picked up by relatives, and others were trying to make arrangements to travel to other cities.
By late morning Thursday, the site was relatively quiet as new shelter was found and immigration attorneys began the task of processing asylum claims.
“I understand they are no longer at the church and they are either resting at undisclosed locations and or holding appointments with volunteer attorneys,” said Jorge-Mario Cabrera, spokesman for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, also known as CHIRLA.
In a Facebook message to parishioners, the church itself detailed how the evening went down after the migrants arrived at their parish center.
“We were requested by the LA Archdiocese, LA City and County Emergency Service to just provide a place for them to be processed and then they would be picked up by family/sponsors or placed in prepared LA County shelters,” according to the message.
The church noted that “nobody was sleeping in the Parish Center,” adding that the response was well organized” and…
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