Another migrant bus arrives in NYC from Texas with 89 people on board – including five children: The ambulance is waiting at the Port Authority for a “very ill” person who arrives while “a number” of passengers are testing positive for COVID
- Another busload of 89 immigrants arrived in NYC from Texas today, including a family with a child as young as one year old
- An ambulance was waiting at the Port Authority for a “very, very ill” passenger
- Several of the passengers have been tested for COVID and are positive
New York City today welcomed another busload of 89 immigrants from Texas, including a family with a child as young as one year old.
An ambulance has been dispatched to wait for the migrants at the port authority as a passenger is “very, very ill” and needs medical attention.
Those on the bus were tested for COVID and there were “a number of positive tests,” says Manuel Castro, who works in the NYC mayor’s office of immigration affairs.
Some migrants on the bus were separated from their families before the trip and did not know they were going to New York when they boarded the bus, including a man who was separated from his pregnant wife and children.
Manuel Castro, Commissioner for the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, greets migrants as they arrive in New York City
Castro said some of the passengers would eventually head to other final destinations, such as Chicago and Florida
“Clearly in Texas, they’re not getting the support they need,” said Castro, who added the migrants were “exhausted and tired.”
The man’s wife was left in Texas while her grandmother was sent in the opposite direction to San Antonio.
Castro said some of the passengers would eventually go to other final destinations, such as Chicago and Florida, and expressed concern about “how they’re getting there.”
“They are clearly not getting the support they need in Texas,” Castro said, adding the migrants were “exhausted and tired.”
He also said those bused out of Texas were given waivers to sign but were not given copies.
“It’s disgusting to use people as political pawns,” Castro said.
Last week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began busing undocumented migrants into New York City in a symbolic protest that President Joe Biden is ending a pandemic program that allows border officials to more easily thwart illegal border crossings.
New York considers itself a haven for undocumented migrants and does not cooperate with immigration law enforcement officers on deportation or detention matters.
Adams (center, in white shirt) can be seen greeting children who arrived in New York City on a bus from Texas on Sunday. While 40 migrants were expected, only 14 landed in New York City amid fears of crime in the Big Apple
Over the weekend, Abbott brought more than 100 undocumented migrants from Texas to New York City so they could use the city’s support services
Asylum seekers wait to be transported by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials after crossing the Rio Grande River from Mexico to the United States, at Eagle Pass, Texas, U.S., July 26. Both Texas Gov. Abbott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed warrants authorizing migrants to take free buses to Washington, DC and New York City
On Tuesday, Adams called Abbott’s program “irresponsible” for using people for a “political ploy.”
He also threatened to bus New Yorkers into Texas to knock on doors for Abbott’s incoming gubernatorial rival, Beto O’Rourke.
“I’ve already called all my friends in Texas and told them how to vote,” Adams said. “I’m seriously contemplating going to Texas with a busload of New Yorkers and banging on some good old door knockers because for the good of America we gotta get him out of office.”
He previously described Abbott’s program as “terrible.”
“It’s unimaginable to come into this country and see you for the first time and someone is trying to kick you out like the Texas governor is doing,” Adams said. “I think he’s irresponsible. I don’t think he achieves anything. There’s a reason the Statue of Liberty is there. We all come from somewhere… I don’t think he’s accomplishing anything other than exposing what kind of person he is.”
Adams’ press office said it could not comment on the mayor’s policy plans, noting that the mayor said it was something he was considering.