Texas sends bus of migrants to DC on Mother's Day, days after Title 42 expiration

WASHINGTON, DC (WJLA) — After a long pause, Texas has restarted its policy of busing migrants to D.C. in the days after Title 42 expired, with the most recent bus arriving on Mother's Day.

Around 8:30 p.m. Sunday, a bus with dozens of migrants from Del Rio in South Texas arrived in front of the U.S. Naval Observatory near Vice President Kamala Harris' residence.

The District saw migrants bused starting Thursday, when Title 42 expired, after a long pause in this immigration tactic from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

Title 42 is the public health policy instituted by the Trump administration, and continued by President Joe Biden, that ordered immigration officials to turn away all migrants, even if they were claiming asylum, to avoid the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abbott had sent busloads of migrants the night of Christmas Eve.

SAMU, a group providing resources and assistance to migrants and refugees, had volunteers at the Naval Observatory. They brought the arriving migrants to a church to help them get processed.

The latest busloads come just a few weeks after D.C.-run hotels being used to shelter migrants reached capacity. The Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network, an advocacy group that has helped migrants since busing began in April 2022, has called on the city to increase shelter capacity.

According to a September 2022 announcement from Mayor Muriel Bowser, at least 9,400 migrants have been sent to D.C. from Texas and Arizona.