(NewsNation) — Before dawn and with tired faces, at least one bus of migrants arrived outside Vice President Kamala Harris’ Washington, D.C., residence on Thursday morning, a source confirmed to NewsNation.
This is another round of migrants who have been bused from the southern border to Harris’ residence, which sits on a hilltop on the 72-acre compound of the U.S. Naval Observatory. It is the official residence of the vice president.
Two buses of migrants from Texas were bused there last month.
The migrants being bused are asylum seekers who are now permitted to stay in the United States by U.S. Customs and Border Protection until their petitions to stay in the country go through the system.
The busing began in spring when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey announced plans to send busloads of migrants to Washington, D.C., and New York City in response to President Joe Biden’s decision to lift a pandemic-era emergency health order that restricted migrant entry numbers. Abbott recently began busing migrants to Chicago.
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser last month declared a public emergency over the migrant busing. The move would help “triage the needs of people arriving” in the city, according to the mayor.
Abbott said in a tweet this week that he has bused more than 8,200 migrants to D.C., 2,900 to New York City and nearly 900 to Chicago.
During a gubernatorial debate last week, the Texas governor faced questions about his controversial program. His Democratic challenger, Beto O’Rourke, was also asked about it.
Abbott claimed because cities such as Washington, D.C., are larger and have more infrastructure available, they have the capability of accommodating the number of migrants being sent better than smaller municipalities along the border.
O’Rourke countered this by calling the rhetoric around migrants “hateful,” and argued that Abbott is “treating humans as political pawns.”
“This is incredibly dangerous for Texas, and it’s not reflective of our values,” he said.
Local officials in D.C. told NewsNation they didn’t get any advance notice about the bus, but the city is helping the newly arrived asylum seekers with basic needs like shelter, food, health care and transportation to their final destinations.
This story is developing. Refresh for updates.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
