Federal authorities are pushing back against reports that they neglected 50 immigrant women and children who were dropped off at a bus station Friday and were later stranded in San Antonio due to Hurricane Harvey, saying the immigrants had confirmed tickets and itineraries when they were dropped off.
The asylum seekers, mostly from Central America, were dropped off at the bus station and were due to travel to cities and towns across the U.S. after passing their “credible fear” interviews. However, their plans were waylaid when Hurricane Harvey forced Greyhound Bus to cancel many of its afternoon services, stranding them at the station.
“We were told yesterday that no buses are running tomorrow, so Congressman Lloyd Doggett [D-San Antonio] called [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] to not drop families at the bus station,” Sister Denise LeRock, a member of the Interfaith Welcome Coalition, told Rivard Report.
Doggett told the San Antonio Express-News that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials advised him Friday morning the group would be dropped off at the downtown station in time to make connections before the storm hit, but they arrived too late.
An ICE spokeswoman said they were transferred to the bus depot with confirmed tickets and itineraries, and denied allegations that they neglected the immigrants.
“Throughout the process, ICE remained in close contact with bus officials to ensure bus availability, and all aliens had confirmed bus transportation at the time at which ICE officers departed the station,” she told the Washington Examiner. “Ultimately, ICE kept two additional families in custody since their bus trip had been cancelled.”
Additionally, in an earlier joint statement issued by ICE and Customs and Border Protection, the agencies said “routine non-criminal immigration enforcement operations will not be conducted at evacuation sites, or assistance centers such as shelters or food banks.”
San Antonio’s Office of the City Manager, Department of Human Services, the Interfaith Welcome Coalition, among others, made arrangements for the refugees to be sheltered in a nearby church, per online news organization NOWCastSA.
NOTE: This story has been updated with comment from Immigration and Customs Enforcement
