More migrants dropped off outside VP Kamala Harris' home on Christmas Eve in frigid temps
WASHINGTON (7News) — A group of migrants was dropped off outside Vice President Kamala Harris' D.C. home on Christmas Eve, as temperatures dropped into the teens and some people were seen without adequate winter clothes.
A total of three busloads stopped outside the Naval Observatory from Texas.
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The Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network was there to take all three busloads of people to a church to help provide them with necessary resources and welcome them to our area.
"This is a welcome effort that we've been doing since the first bus arrived," said Amy Fischer, a core organizer with the Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network. "D.C. just continues to show up as a welcoming city that is always ready and willing to open their arms to welcome people, whether it's Christmas Eve, whether it's 9 degrees outside or 90 degrees outside."
To protect the migrants, Fischer did not disclose which church they were taking the migrants to, however, she said they provided warm food and clothes to them.
7News was there when the last two buses of migrants arrived for the night. Some migrants could be seen wearing only sweatshirts, with one man even wearing shorts as temperatures dipped in the teens Saturday night.
Fischer said this latest drop-off was a political stunt by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, using people as pawns.
“It really does show the cruelty behind Gov. Abbott and his insistence on continuing to bus people here without care about people arriving late at night on Christmas Eve when the weather is so cold. People are getting off the buses, they don’t have coats, they don’t have clothes for this kind of weather, and they’re freezing," Fischer said.
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Previously, Abbott sent buses to the VP's home.
The following statement was released by the Department of Homeland Security earlier Saturday:
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues to fully enforce our immigration and public health laws at the border. Individuals and families attempting to enter without authorization are being expelled, as required by court order under the Title 42 public health authority, or placed into removal proceedings. As temperatures remain dangerously low all along the border, no one should put their lives in the hands of smugglers, or risk life and limb attempting to cross only to be returned.
Regardless of nationality, anyone attempting to enter without authorization is subject to expulsion under Title 42. Those who cannot be expelled pursuant to Title 42 may be placed in expedited removal and anyone ordered removed subject to a bar on entry for 5 years under Title 8. Venezuelans attempting to enter the United States between ports of entry also continue to be returned to Mexico, and will be barred from the Venezuela Migration Enforcement Process announced in October.
DHS continues to lead a whole of government strategy to secure the borders and build safe, orderly, and humane immigration processes. There are 23,000 agents and officers working to secure the Southwest border and the United States Government continues to work closely with our partners in Mexico to reinforce coordinated enforcement operations to target human smuggling organizations and bring them to justice. That collaboration includes migration checkpoints, additional resources and personnel, joint targeting of human smuggling organizations, and expanded information sharing related to transit nodes, hotels, stash houses, and staging locations.
