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The state of Texas decided to send immigrants who entered the US without documentations in buses to US states that declared themselves places of sanctuary. Los Angeles is one of those cities. Hear how volunteers work together to make the new arrivals feel welcome.
As soon as the state of Texas started to send immigrants on buses to Los Angeles in June, a coalition of local faith-based institutions and immigrant support groups formed to welcome them upon arrival at Union Station. They call themselves the LA Welcomes Collective. Texas pays a private bus company for the transportation service. So far, the state has spent more than $75 million in tax dollars to send immigrants to Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver, and Los Angeles. Texas says it’s up to the receiving cities to take care of the immigrants because they call themselves sanctuary cities. And sanctuary, at least temporarily, is what the LA Welcomes Collective provides. Members hand out meals and hygiene kits to immigrants as they step off the buses. They offer temporary shelter and help asylum seekers reach their sponsors and get legal assistance. On a recent Saturday morning, volunteers gathered at a Christian church in Echo Park to transform a basement into a short-term shelter. When most immigrants arrive, they just need a safe and comfortable place to rest, says Guillermo Torres, who coordinates the coalition’s work.
