Two busloads of illegal immigrants sent by the governor of Texas arrived in front of the Naval Observatory, where Vice President Kamala Harris lives.
“We knew we were coming to Washington, D.C., but no one told us we would be let off in front of the vice president’s residence,” said Deilinyn Mendoza, a 25-year-old male migrant from Caracas, Venezuela.
Mr. Mendoza arrived with his wife on one of the buses from Texas. The couple told The Washington Times they came to the U.S. to build a better life.
“I wanted to claim asylum because there are better opportunities for myself and my family,” Mr. Mendoza said.
His wife said they left Venezuela because the country is financially collapsing. “We took the bus because I didn’t have any money to take an airplane here,” she said.
They entered the U.S. by wading across the Rio Grande, they said.
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Governors in Texas, Arizona and Florida have been bussing and flying illegal immigrants into liberal metropolitan areas of the country that have been declared “sanctuary cities.” They say they are sending the illegal immigrant problem to the doorsteps of elected leaders who refuse to acknowledge that the southern border is not secure.
Vice President Kamala Harris declared on NBC News that the southern border is “secure.”
“We have a secure border in that that is a priority for any nation, including ours and our administration. But there are still a lot of problems that we are trying to fix given the deterioration that happened over the last four years,” she said.
That apparently prompted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to send 100 migrants on two busses to Ms. Harris’s residence. The migrants on the buses said they were unaware of the final destination in the nation’s capital.
The two busloads of immigrants were welcomed by the non-profit organization SAMU, which has provided services to the migrants arriving by bus since April at Washington’s Union Station. This was the first busload at the Naval Observatory, according to the organization’s representative Tatiana La Borden.
“We know one from Arizona is going to be here tomorrow. But we don’t know if there is one from Texas. They could just be sending one today. They send buses every day,” she said.
According to Ms. LaBorden, SAMU brought the migrants to a church where they received care items before being sent to their next destination.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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