The arrival of buses with migrants, often without warning or hours in advance, has become a common sight at Union Station in the city of Los Angeles on the US West Coast.
They come from the border with Mexico in San Diego, about 2 hours away, they come from other parts of the country, and since last year, they come on buses sent from Texas.
On the last bus of migrants to Los Angeles, twelve showed up without shoes because their carriers had been confiscated by US Southern Border Patrol agents who had passed through seeking asylum.
“It was so cold when they arrived, we didn't even have a forecast,” said Jorge-Mario Cabrera, director of communications for CHIRLA – the Coalition for Humanitarian Immigrant Rights, a coalition that provides humanitarian aid to migrants in need in LA. Shelter, Lusa said to help.
The migration crisis at the southern border of the United States dominates its large-scale news cycle and presidential campaign: in December, a historic record of almost 250 thousand arrests for illegal smuggling was broken. Including those allowed to enter, it surpassed 300,000 in a month for the first time.
Los Angeles, unlike cities like New York and Chicago, is facing disaster status as the influx of immigrants increases. But the situation has become more complicated in recent months.
In October, 85 immigrant families were welcomed into Union Rescue, which typically supports homeless people, and 27 families were taken to Angel's House in the Compton area.
“Los Angeles and California have always been major migration destinations from all over the world and that has never changed”, exemplifies Jorge-Mario Cabrera. About one-third of LA residents are immigrants and a total of 10.4 million people in the United States were born in the United States.
“California's normal flow of immigrants has changed and been interrupted, first by the Trump presidency and then by the pandemic, exacerbated by Trump's policies,” Cabrera said. “This includes large numbers of asylum seekers who have been waiting in Mexico for months or years.”
The deteriorating geopolitical situation in South America, with difficult conditions in countries like Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia, has also worsened the situation. Now many more Venezuelans are arriving, but they are missing the same support networks that communities like Mexico, California's tradition of immigration have already established.
At this time, it is estimated that about 1,000 migrants arrive in California per day, and 1,000 to 1,600 per week in Los Angeles. Cabrera says this includes recent increases in people from Ukraine, Russia and other conflict zones.
“The anti-immigration policy of the governors of Florida and Texas is different from last year, when they started the program of sending immigrants by bus and plane”, highlighted Cabrera. “It caused more disruption and politicized the situation.”
In a city with a shortage of affordable housing and the largest homeless population in the country, several organizations have come together to deal with the increased flow of immigrants. They formed the LA Welcomes Collective, led by CHIRLA, with the goal of providing immediate assistance — from hot meals and laundry to phone use and sometimes referrals to temporary housing.
Mayor Karen Bass' office offers services ranging from transportation and shelter to mental health support. In September, after 16 busloads of migrants arrived from Texas, the governor recalled a plan created earlier this year that brought together local government with a coalition of non-profit organizations, in addition to religious partners. This scheme is executed every time the bus arrives.
“I think the integration that Los Angeles has set is a model for other cities”, Jorge-Mario Cabrera considered. “We will continue to cooperate.”
The LA Welcomes Collective, in addition to Sirla, includes the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, CLUE-LA (Clergy and Loyalty United for Economic Justice), CARECEN (Central American Resource Center-Los Angeles), Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project, and ImmDef (Immigrants). Guardian Law Center).
Organizations have asked for more support, especially from the central government, and depend on donations and volunteers. On a policy level, what they would like to see is structural reform of the immigration system, with more resources so courts can expedite cases within a reasonable time.
“Asylum requests in the US are legal”, highlighted Jorge-Mario Cabrera. “These people are not illegals, as many call them, they are seeking asylum.”
In November, it was revealed that the Southern Border Patrol was sending migrants to an unofficial camp in Jacumba, in the California desert about 75 miles from San Diego. An NPR radio report found makeshift tents and small latrines with migrants from places as diverse as Turkey, Kurdistan and Honduras.
“I think Europe is more receptive and smarter in assimilating immigrants than America,” Cabrera pointed out. “The United States is better off looking at other models than worrying about closing the border,” he continued. “That was not a solution. Trump knows it, and so do those who think like him.
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