Global Courant
A month and a half ago, Miguel Ángel got off a bus in Los Angeles. He had been held in an immigration detention center since January, after Border Patrol agents caught him and the four other people he was traveling with in the Sonoran Desert.
When Miguel Ángel was released from downtown in late April, he said he moved to several cities in Arizona and Central California before getting a bus ticket to LA.
“Coming here was a surprise. I thought I was going to be deported,” said Miguel Ángel, who lives in a downtown shelter and who identifies The Times only by his first name because of his undocumented status. “I just got here… and I’ve already found a job, so I’m happy. I have already cashed my check and sent a portion to my family.”
On Wednesday, a bus carrying 42 migrants from Texas arrived in downtown Los Angeles. Some of those on board came from Guatemala, the homeland of Miguel Ángel. Others came from Venezuela, Honduras and China. Couples and families spent 23 hours on a foodless journey that Texas Governor Greg Abbott said would provide “much-needed relief to Texas’ frontier communities.”
Miguel Ángel said he struggled to understand why the 42 migrants were bussed to LA. However, he said he was glad other migrants had made their way to Los Angeles, which recently issued a “sanctuary city” ordinance.
“It’s important that other people have opportunities and can stay here,” said Miguel Ángel. “Back in our country, the situation is very precarious. Everyone knows. People even die coming here. Some drop dead in the desert, others are kidnapped in Mexico, others are mistreated by the coyotes. Many things happen until you get here.
Last Wednesday, migrants were taken to St. Anthony’s Croatian Catholic Church after riding a bus from Texas and being dropped off at Los Angeles Union Station.
(Raul Roa / Los Angeles Times and Spanish)
Many Latino Angelenos have paid close attention to the clash over immigration policies that pits California against conservative states. Since last year, Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have bussed or jetted thousands of migrants to liberal cities across the country. Republican officials say the actions were necessary because of the failure of the Biden administration’s border policies. But Democrats and activists say they are political stunts and have raised the alarm about a potential lack of informed consent of some of the migrants transported.
“It’s sad,” said Guatemalan street vendor Roselia Guarchaj, who was making tortillas at a corner stall in MacArthur Park. “Because some people thought otherwise. It’s not fair.”
While little is yet known about what the 42 migrants understood about their sponsor or their final destination when they boarded the bus, they all carried phone numbers of people they knew in California, said Jorge-Mario Cabrera, the Coalition’s director of communications. for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. The phone numbers allowed organizers to reunite the migrants with their families and friends in San Diego, San Francisco and the LA area by their second night in the state, he said.
“We don’t know exactly (whether they wanted to come) or not. No one told us they don’t want to be here yet,” Cabrera said. “What we’re trying to investigate is where and when they have their court appointments to decide if they should stay here or go somewhere else, or if we can change the location of their case.”
Olvera Street vendor Mayra Garcia said she heard about the news of the last bus of migrants on Thursday morning as she was getting ready for work. She expressed her condolences to the migrants, who she said “came here for a better life.”
Mayra Garcia, 35, from Montebello works at Memo’s Place on Placita Olvera.
(Raul Roa / Los Angeles Times and Spanish)
“All states should cooperate. I don’t know about Texas, but I’ve heard there’s a lot of racism towards Hispanic people, and I think (Abbott) some of the people there should have accepted instead of just saying, “I go to wash my hands, get on the bus and let other people handle them,” Garcia said. “What I’m grateful for is that the other states haven’t said they don’t want migrants there, and they accept and help them, which is what happens in California.”
While she believes Texas and Florida have not handled their immigration crises well, Hortencia Galván also sees a contradiction in the swift action government officials have taken to support the migrants on buses. She says undocumented workers already living in the city deserve the same attention and support from local officials.
“We all need the same opportunities,” says Galván, who lives a stone’s throw from the church where the migrants were received on the first night. “I work in a restaurant and there are many people who have no papers. I see many of them have spent 20 to 30 years here and they can’t fix them.”
Guatemalan-born Virgilia, who requested to be referred to only by her first name because she has an upcoming appointment on her visa status, said she thought the 42 migrants finding transportation to LA was “a miracle.”
“That’s what I tell people. It’s a blessing.”
Notary Lesly Chavez heard about the bus migrants and said she had decided to donate clothes she collected for other purposes to the new arrivals. On Thursday, she drove to the Chinatown church where many of the migrants had spent the previous night. But by the time she got there, they had all left.
Notary Lesly Chavez brought donations for the migrants. She usually collects clothes for people on Skid Row and orphanages in Mexico, often with donations from her clients.
(Raul Roa / Los Angeles Times and Spanish)
Westlake resident Mary Diaz said she felt the town had plenty of room to spare as long as the migrants were “good people.”
“What happened in Miami was ugly because they took migrants who didn’t know where they were going to be sent,” Diaz said. “Does it affect us? I don’t think so, the sun is shining for everyone.”
Cabrera said Angelenos had responded to the situation in a “beautiful way” by welcoming the migrants and offering donations.
“As an immigrant, I feel the pain of our community. They are siblings looking for a better future, looking for a place where they are welcome,” Cabrera said. “Texas doesn’t want them, so we have to act humanely and treat these people with respect and dignity. I think Los Angeles has shown that drama and scandal are not necessary to help people in need.”
