What to Know
- A bus carrying about 28 migrants from Texas has arrived in Philadelphia, 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 as they arrived outside Philadelphia's 30th Street Station before dawn Wednesday said they came from Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.
- Texas officials have been sending buses with thousands of migrants to so-called sanctuary cities like New York, Washington, Chicago and beyond -- a tactic that escalated earlier this fall.
A bus full of migrants seeking asylum that departed from Texas arrived in Philadelphia Wednesday morning, including a 10-year-old girl suffering from dehydration.
The bus arrived in Philadelphia at about 6 a.m. ET and the asylum seekers, about 28 in total, were greeted by advocates who gave them welcome kits including hygiene products, blankets, hot coffee, bottles of water and clothing.
The migrants, who NBC 10 in Philadelphia reported were from Colombia, Cuba and the Dominican Republic were taken to a welcoming center shelter in North Philadelphia.
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A 10-year-old girl on board was dehydrated and required some care, NBC 10's Miguel Martinez-Valle reported. She was taken to a hospital for treatment.
“There's a 10-year-old who's completely dehydrated," Democratic Philadelphia City Council member Helen Gym said. "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). It's a terrible situation.”
A migrant from Nicaragua who got off the bus told Miguel that he got on the bus after someone in Texas told him it was OK that he didn't have money to travel. The 23-year-old man said he is seeking work.
TEXAS GOVERNOR SAYS MIGRANTS WILL GO TO PHILADELPHIA
Abbott confirmed the trip on Twitter on Tuesday, saying the state would now include the City of Brotherly Love among the growing list of Democratic-led cities considered destinations for migrants seeking asylum at the Texas border.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said on Twitter Tuesday afternoon that they received confirmation that 30 people were on the way and that, "As a proud welcoming city, Philadelphia will greet our newly arrived neighbors with dignity and respect."
Kenney also tweeted that it was "disgusting that Gov. Abbott's administration continues to implement their purposefully cruel policy using immigrant families as political pawns" and that the Philadelphia government, agencies and partners were working to welcome, assist and provide support to the migrants and their families.
NBC 10 in Philadelphia said a spokesperson for Kenney said they were told last week that approximately 30 asylum seekers were expected to travel from Del Rio to Philadelphia. They also said Texas officials have not coordinated with Philadelphia officials and they did not have an anticipated time for when the bus would arrive as a result.
"As Texas officials have not coordinated with local officials, this information has not been confirmed, but it has been reported to us from our community partners that roughly half of the 30 individuals are part of family units, and half are solo individuals," the spokesperson wrote. "Approximately seven children may be on board."
The spokesperson said it was likely that several of the migrants will disembark during stops in other states during the trip.
"Only three individuals have Pennsylvania reported as their final destination, according to the latest information provided by our local partner organization; others are reported to continue on to nearby locations including New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Maryland," the spokesperson wrote.
Abbott said Tuesday that Philadelphia was selected as a destination for the migrants because of Kenney's "long celebrated" fight for sanctuary city status "making the city an ideal addition to Texas' list of drop-off locations."
Philadelphia now joins Washington, D.C., New York City, and Chicago as one of the cities that has received at least one of the more than 300 buses carrying 13,000 migrants out of Texas since April.
"Texas' busing strategy has successfully provided much-needed relief to our border communities overwhelmed by the historic influx of migrants caused by President Biden's reckless open border policies," said Abbott, who described the migrants as invaders and said the bussing would continue the southern border was secured.
"Until the Biden Administration does its job and provides Texans and the American people with sustainable border security, Texas will continue doing more than any other state in the nation's history to defend against an invasion along the border, including adding more sanctuary cities like Philadelphia as drop-off locations for our busing strategy," Abbott said.
The migrants were dropped off at Philadelphia's William H. Gray III 30th Street Station on Wednesday morning.
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