LA Mayor Karen Bass, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott at Odds Over Busing Migrants During Hurricane Hilary

In a statement on Tuesday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass denounced Texas Governor Greg Abbott for busing migrants from Brownsville, Texas to Los Angeles during the Tropical Storm.

According to Bass, a bus of migrants from Latin American countries under Abbott’s migrant program left Brownsville on Sunday and arrived in L.A. at Union Station late on Monday. While the storm had mostly passed over the area late on Monday, earlier projections had showed the storm arriving later, leaving for the potential that the bus could have arrived during high winds and heavy rain.

“It is evil to endanger the lives of vulnerable migrants by sending a bus with families and toddlers on board to a city that at the time was under an unprecedented tropical storm warning,” said Bass in a statement. “As I stood with state and local leaders warning Angelenos to stay safe and brace themselves for the worst of the coming storm, the Governor of Texas sent families and toddlers straight for us on a path through extreme weather conditions. If anybody understands the danger of hurricanes and thunderstorms, it’s the Governor of Texas – who has to deal with this threat on an annual basis. This is a despicable act beyond politics.”

While we warned Angelenos to stay safe and brace themselves for the storm, the Governor of Texas sent a bus of families and toddlers straight for Los Angeles.

This is a despicable act beyond politics — it's evil.

— Mayor Karen Bass (@MayorOfLA) August 22, 2023

Texas and Florida have sent Latin American migrants who have just crossed the border to other states creating a contentious issue. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ flight plan to send migrants to other states has been particularly noteworthy, with flights to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts last year and Sacramento earlier this year getting international headlines. Abbott, however, has preferred busing, sending migrants to New York, Chicago, LA, and other traditionally blue areas to help with the migrant crisis. The sanctuary cities have accepted the migrants, but the migrants themselves have faced hostility from some in the cities, with the cities themselves declaring crises because of high number of illegal immigrants trying to get asylum.

Migrant busing from Texas

San Diego and Los Angeles have largely been spared the worst of it, because of already having a stream of migrants coming across the border and already being set up to receive large groups of migrants unlike New York and Chicago. However, this hasn’t stopped Gov. Abbott and other governors from busing migrants elsewhere. According to the city of Los Angeles, Monday’s bus was the ninth such one to come from Texas since the beginning of the year.

While Gov. Abbott has yet to comment on the latest bus going to LA, the fact that it was sent during an emergency situation has raised many eyebrows, even from supporters of the busing program.

“Los Angeles and other places that are sanctuary cities are fair game,” said “Jim,” a transport specialist in Texas who has helped coordinate migrant buses in the past. “There’s a huge crisis here and other places need to share the burden. That being said, sending them into a storm like that should not have happened. It only brings negative press. They should have just waited a few days. I don’t know who exactly greenlit that one, but you can be sure he is at least getting a talking to about that. Sending a bus of people into a big storm doesn’t exactly win people over.”

Immigration lawyer Raul Calderon also told the Globe, “Circumstance often helps win over judges in immigration courts. If Texas is trying to offload people because they just want Californian courts to reject them and send them back, or hope that they otherwise won’t be accepted, it kind of backfired. A lot of judges will hear of them being sent in a bus through Hilary and feel a lot more sympathy. All they did was make it more likely that these people will get asylum and start on their path to citizenship.”

More migrant buses are likely to arrive in LA and other California cities, as Texas and other states have said that they are not stopping the migrant busing programs anytime soon.