Mayor Jim Kenney calls Texas Gov. Abbott administration ‘cruel and racist’ for sending bus of migrants without coordination

Hours after a bus of 28 immigrants arrived in Philadelphia from Texas, Mayor Jim Kenney called Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s administration “cruel and racist” for sending the bus to the city with mere hours notice and no plan to help the families once they arrived.

Around 6:15 a.m. Wednesday, 23 adults and five children, including an infant, arrived at 30th Street Station and were welcomed by city officials, immigrant advocacy groups and community organizations who greeted them with food, blankets and clothes.

Nineteen of the people that arrived were bused from the station to a North Philadelphia welcome center that had been set up by the city.

Although city officials and community groups had been preparing for the potential arrival of the bus for days, Abbott’s office did not coordinate at all with Philadelphia, said Kenney, announcing the impending arrival of the bus with a press release Tuesday evening.

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“It’s not just unproductive and disappointing, but downright irresponsible and callous to do this unannounced and without coordination, showing blatant disregard for the sanctity of human lives,” Kenney said at a press briefing Wednesday.

As of late Wednesday morning, 14 people were still waiting at the welcome center to connect with family in the area to go to their next destination, said Amy Eusebio, the city’s executive director of immigrant affairs. Only two of the people who arrived Wednesday will be staying in Philadelphia, she said.

While Abbott and his administration have claimed that they have sent buses of migrant families to Northeastern states as a way to relieve pressure on the state’s border with Mexico, many, including Kenney, see it as a political stunt that dehumanizes families with the legal right to seek asylum.

“It is sad and outrageous that Governor Abbott and his administration continue to implement their cruel and racist policies using immigrant families — including children — as pawns to shamelessly push their warped political agenda,” he said.

One of the children that arrived Wednesday was being treated at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for a high fever. Health Commissioner Cheryl Betigole said it was not known when the child would be released.