Sick child among 28 migrants arriving on bus in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA — A bus carrying 28 migrants from Texas arrived in Philadelphia on Wednesday, including a 10-year-old girl suffering from dehydration and a high fever who was whisked to a hospital for treatment.
Advocates who welcomed them with coats and blankets as they arrived before dawn on a cold, drizzly morning said the families and individuals came from Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Cuba. The city and several nonprofit groups were ready to provide food, temporary housing and other services.
“In general, people feel relieved. We want them to know that they have a home here,” said Philadelphia City Council member Helen Gym, who accompanied several of the migrants onto a second bus taking them to an intake center.
“There’s a 10- year- old who’s completely dehydrated. It’s one of the more inhumane aspects that they would put a child who was dehydrated with a fever now, a very high fever (on the bus),” Ms. Gym said.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Tuesday that Philadelphia would be the next destination for migrants the state has been transporting by the thousands from the U.S.-Mexico border to Democrat-led cities, news that came a week after the Republican easily won re-election.
Texas has put more than 300 busloads of migrants on the road since April on unannounced journeys to cities including New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C. The trips have cost Texas about $26 million, according to Nim Kidd, chief of Texas Department of Emergency Management.
Mr. Kidd, whose agency is overseeing the departures, said nongovernmental organizations on the Texas border are in touch with groups in destination cities.
U.S. officials stopped more than 2 million illegal border crossings in the last fiscal year, a record high that reflects the deteriorating economic and political conditions in some countries, plus the relative strength of the U.S. economy and uneven enforcement of Trump-era asylum restrictions.
Advocates in Philadelphia who greeted the latest group of 23 adults and five children said it was not clear how long they had been traveling.
“The kids are frightened, they’re exhausted, they’re tired,” said Emilio Buitrago of the nonprofit Casa de Venezuela. “They’re going to go to a place … where they’re going to have comfy, warm beds with a blanket, and warm food. From there, we’re going to work on relocation.”
A few people were met by relatives almost immediately, while others planned to reunite with family or friends in nearby states in the coming days. Only one adult and an infant were expected to stay in the city, officials said. Three others exited the bus before it reached Philadelphia.
Mr. Abbott has sent the buses to Democratic-led cities to maximize exposure of what he calls the inaction of the Biden administration over high numbers of migrants crossing the southern border. In all, he’s sent more than 13,000 migrants out of state since April.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said the people arriving from Texas are all in the country legally while they seek asylum.