Another busload of 89 immigrants from Texas arrived in New York City today, including a family with a one-year-old.
One of the migrants is “very, very ill” and requires medical treatment, so an ambulance was sent to wait at Port Authority for the migrants.
According to Manuel Castro, a staff member in the NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, all aboard the bus have been tested for COVID, and there have been “a number of positive tests.”
Some migrants aboard the bus, including a father separated from his pregnant wife and children, had been split up from their families before the journey and had no idea they were travelling to New York until they boarded the vehicle.
While their grandmother was transferred in the other way, to San Antonio, the man’s wife was left behind in Texas.
One immigrant claimed that Texas had mistreated them.
Some of the passengers, according to Castro, were ultimately travelling to other final destinations, such as Chicago and Florida, and they voiced worry about “how they get there.”
Castro said that the migrants were “exhausted and drained,” adding that “clearly in Texas they are not being provided the help that they need.”
Additionally, he said that individuals transported by bus out of Texas were given releases to sign but not actual copies.
Castro remarked, “Using people as political pawns is horrible.”
Volunteer Yesenia Benitez said, “We have provided them food, supplies, healthcare, everything.”
She is working to assist the migrants in settling down in New York City.
Benitez noted that it is “awful in there” and that the city’s shelters are “near a breaking point.”
She criticised Mayor Eric Adams for his lack of support, adding that all they had done was “show up once for a news conference.”
Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, started transporting undocumented immigrants to New York City this week as a symbolic act of defiance against President Joe Biden’s decision to discontinue a controversial programme that enables border officials to more effectively intercept unauthorised border crossings.
In terms of deportation and detention, New York has regarded itself as a sanctuary city for unauthorised immigrants and does not cooperate with immigration enforcement officials.
Adams criticised Abbott’s initiative on Tuesday for exploiting people as a “political ploy” and dubbed it “irresponsible.”
Additionally, he threatened to ferry voters from New York to Texas so they could canvass homes for Beto O’Rourke, Abbott’s future opponent for governor.
Adams remarked, “I’ve already contacted all of my Texas friends and informed them how to vote.”
“I’m really considering sending a busload of New Yorkers to Texas to knock on doors, because we need to remove him from office for the benefit of the country.
In the past, he had described Abbott’s programme as “horrific.”
“Adams stated, “It’s unthinkable to come to this nation and have someone attempt to kick you out on your first visit here, as the Governor of Texas is doing.
“I believe he is reckless,” He isn’t, in my opinion, making any progress. The Statue of Liberty is situated where it is for a purpose. We’re all from someplace, right?
I don’t believe he is doing anything other than showing who he is as a person.
Adams’ press office said that they were unable to comment on the mayor’s political aspirations but emphasised that the mayor had previously stated that he was thinking about doing this.