Migrants rest during a night of low temperatures in downtown El Paso, Texas. /
Several Latin American families, many with young children, were abandoned on the streets of Washington in the midst of a wave of polar cold.
The governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, determined to spoil the Christmas holidays for the Democratic Administration in Washington, chose last Saturday to send a hundred immigrants to the house of the vice president, Kamala Harris. It constitutes the latest episode in an increasingly tense struggle between the governors of the southern Republican states and the Joe Biden government over the intensification of border controls with Mexico while the White House tries to rescind Title 42 enacted by Donald Trump and which allows immediate expulsions.
After a two-day bus journey, some 130 immigrant asylum seekers from Central and South America, many with families with children dressed in sweatshirts and shorts, were abandoned on the street in Washington late on Christmas Eve. Immigrant assistance groups, informed of their arrival, awaited them with blankets and hot drinks in temperatures of eight degrees below zero. They were transported to a church in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, where they were provided with warm clothing, supplies and lodging.
In a statement to the Washington Post newspaper, the White House condemned the action and noted that Abbott did not coordinate with federal or local authorities before leaving the immigrants out in the cold. For its part, the Texas governor’s office had not confirmed the shipment of the last buses, although they were introduced into the vehicles by Texas officials.
Last month Abbott said this strategy brought relief to the state’s border communities, warning that if Title 42 is allowed to expire the number of people entering the US illegally “will only increase.” He had previously sent buses to the headquarters of the Naval Observatory, which oversees immigration policy.
loss of innocent lives
In addition, eight days ago Governor Abbott demanded that President Biden “end the lie that the border is secure,” while urging him to immediately deploy federal assets to address “serious problems before more innocent lives are lost.” ». Since mid-April, Texas has bused thousands of immigrants to Washington, New York and Chicago. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, also Republicans, have also done the same to Democratic-led cities.
Amy Fischer, a member of the Red de Ayuda Mutual de Solidaridad con Migrantes organization, denounced the far-right governors for “their cruelty” in orchestrating the transfer of immigrants for political purposes. Tatiana Laborde, from the Samu First Response aid group, pointed out, for her part, that they have been receiving immigrants since April and that only last week nine buses arrived in Washington. According to her, there has been an increase in Ecuadorians and Colombians, in contrast to the high number of Venezuelans who arrived previously.
More than 230,000 illegals entered the US in November
Activated by a possible repeal of Title 42, thousands of immigrants crossed the southern border last week in an odyssey that ended up leaving them in makeshift camps in the open on the streets of the city of El Paso, in the midst of the advance of an arctic storm with frigid temperatures. On Friday, Customs and Border Protection reported that 233,740 people were apprehended in November, the highest number ever recorded for that month. According to the border agency report, around 35% came from Cuba and Nicaragua. Aid groups and officials in the border city of El Paso and other cities in the State of Texas have struggled to serve the massive number of immigrants. who enter the country in search of asylum. El Paso even declared a state of emergency.
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