A fourth bus full of migrants who crossed into the U.S. illegally from Mexico arrived in Washington, DC on Saturday morning. The ...
A fourth bus full of migrants who crossed into the U.S. illegally from Mexico arrived in Washington, DC on Saturday morning.
The bus, carrying two women and eight men, drove 1,500 miles from Texas to DC, and arrived just blocks from the Capitol building, disembarking near centrally-located Union Station.
The migrants had come from Del Rio in Texas and had traveled to the U.S. border from Venezuela, Columbia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Mexico.
Their travel to the national capital is part of a disruptive initiative by Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
A fourth bus of migrants that had been driven from Texas arrived in Washington D.C. on Saturday morning
The migrants were dropped off by the Capitol having been driven 1,500 miles from Texas to Washington D.C.
Pictured a bus carrying migrants from Texas parked close to the US Capital in Washington,D.C.
The migrants came with few belongings apart from the clothes they were wearing, a backpack and an envelope
His office is offering a free one-way ticket to DC for willing migrants in an effort to show President Joe Biden the scale of the problem, and 'take the border to him'.
A first bus carrying 23 people arrived on Wednesday with a further 14 arriving on Thursday. Friday saw even more with another 30 people arriving.
A social services organization, the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), were on hand to support the migrants as they got off the bus.
The group were given food and water after their 1,500 mile bus journey from the Lone Star State.
'We understand that they are pawns in a political game between Governor Abott and the Biden administration,' said Avel Nunes of CARECEN.
The migrants were offered a free one way bus ticket to the capital - a 1,500 mile trip - upon arriving in Texas
The migrants had come from Del Rio in Texas and had traveled to the U.S. border from Venezuela, Columbia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Mexico
When the migrants arrived from Texas they were carrying Manila envelops that read '4 Washington, DC'
The migrants were given a quick tour of some of the big sights of Washington D.C. including the Capitol building
Two of the women who traveling on the bus from Texas are seen here in this photograph
The migrants appeared happy to be in the nation's capital. The dome of the Capitol can be seen in the background
'Washington,DC is a welcoming city and we are here to help the migrants get the support that they need. A lot of them do not know what is going on and we want to make sure that they have information that they need, find out the types of needs they may have and if they need help getting to their final destination.'
He added: 'They were offered a free ride to Washington,DC but they were not told how to get to their final destination. We are seeing people from Venezuela, some from Nicaragua and Columbia. Governor Abbot is taking random people and this is not coordinated. We get a big bus with ten people coming out of it from random places. This is the craziness and absurdity of what Governor Abbott is doing.'
When asked if any of the migrants have been coerced or forced to come to DC. Nunes said based on the previous buses and what those migrants told them, they do not believe that any of them have been coerced or forced to come to Washington.
The busing strategy is part of Governor Abbott's response, which is his view is due to President Biden's ongoing failure to secure the border.
The migrants arrived at Union Station, in sight of the Capitol building and were shown a few of the sights
The migrants said they they chose to come to Washington D.C. and were not simply forced to get on a bus and travel 1,500 miles
The migrants were given a bag of snacks which included a banana and a bag of Cheetos
The buses started to leave Texas on April 8 after Abbott announced that Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) officials would be taking the migrants released in Texan a communities to the capital.
Initially, The White House dismissed the bus journeys as a it as a 'publicity stunt,' with many assuming the governor would not follow through.
Abbott has continued to state that the bussing operation was set up as a result of Biden's mishandling of the border crisis as to the scale of the problem.
Abbott says more than 1.6 million have crossed into the country over the Texas within the last 15 months.
DailyMail spoke to Micah Rodriquez, 26, a migrant that got off of the bus Saturday morning who traveled with his nephew to the US Capital, both who started their journey in Mallorca, Venezuela on January 17th.
He said that they were prompted to come to the US because the situation in Venezuela is very bad. One job is not enough to sustain a family, he said. 'I have a young newborn baby girl and I have not met her and I do not know her. My nephew and I are the first ones in our family to come to the United States. I need to support my family, support my daughter and I need to sustain my family for all of us.'
The busses have been arriving in DC at a rate of one per day since Wednesday
First bus carried 24 illegal immigrants, while the second bus — which arrived Thursday — carried just 14. Saturday's had 10
Micah Rodriquez, 26, from Venezuela spoke to DailyMail.com about his journey to Washington,DC.
Pictured migrants from Texas having an intake done by members of the the Central American Resource Center in the food court of Union Station to determine there needs and what supports they will need in getting to their final destination
The U.S. Capitol is pictured on a beautiful spring day in Washington D.C.
When asked what his final destination was he said that Washington, DC was his final destination.
He said that the United States government has given him a phone to keep track of him and every Friday he receives a notification and has to send back a photo of himself.
Although Abbott's sending of migrants to D.C. has a stunt-like quality to it, illegals are often moved around the country, only with less publicity or even public acknowledgement.
The Biden administration had recently restarting flying migrants to airports in suburban New York.
Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said earlier in the week that the migrants had been processed in Texas and were awaiting the results of their immigration procedures.
'It's nice the state of Texas is helping them get to their final destination, as they await their outcome of their immigration proceedings,' Psaki said at her daily news briefing.
The migrants are seen listening to instructions as to their next steps on the first day of the rest of their life
Some fear and trepidation can be seen on the faces of the migrants, but surely the hardest part of the journey is over?
One of the female migrants looks directly at the camera while sitting in the foodcourt area of Union Station
The migrants were able to grab some coffee and a snack before working out their next steps
The migrants completed a 1,500 mile journey as they arrived in Washington D.C. They had travelled from Venezuela, Columbia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Mexico
On Friday, Abbott said that his team had received multiple calls from communities in the Rio Grande Valley requesting buses to transport the migrants.
'Overnight there were multiple communities in the Rio Grande Valley asking us to provide buses for them, maybe even planes,' said Abbott.
He told Fox News: 'When they come across the border, it's not like they want to stay in the Rio Grande Valley.
'They are moving across the entire country.
'What better place to go to than the steps of the United States Capitol - they get to see the beautiful Capitol, and get closer to the people making the decisions.'
The scheme has been condemned by Democrats, with Sheila Jackson Lee, whose constituency encompasses parts of Houston, calling it an 'act of hysteria and grandstanding'.
She added: 'Those are not problem solving. They are adding to the grand march of hysteria.'
But Abbott insisted that it was legitimate.
Since Biden took office in January 2021, CBP has encountered more than 2.2 million migrants and the border – and that number could as much as triple with the end of Title 42 next month
Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, on Friday told Fox News that there had been a flurry of requests for buses to take migrants to Washington DC
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, pictured earlier this month, gave about a week's notice of his plan to bus illegal immigrants who cross into the Lone Star State straight to Washington DC
Joe Biden has refused to come to the border to see the chaos that he has created by his open border policies,' he said.
'So we are going to take the border to him by transporting the people that he is dropping off in these local communities in the state of Texas, and sending them to Washington by plane or by bus.
'What is happening is there is an increased number of people coming across the border. They, the federal government, are processing them and letting them loose.
'What has been happening so far is that these people are getting on buses and going to San Antonio, or Houston, or other places like that.
'So I think they just need longer bus rides.'
Abbott said the scheme had 'been happening for weeks if not months now.'
He added: 'We know the process works.
'It's just a matter of relocating the drop off point.'
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