As soon as the state of Texas started to send immigrants on buses to Los Angeles in June, a coalition of local faith-based institutions and immigrant support groups formed to welcome them upon arrival at Union Station. They call themselves the LA Welcomes Collective.
Texas pays a private bus company for the transportation service. So far, the state has spent more than $75 million in tax dollars to send immigrants to Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver, and Los Angeles. Texas says it’s up to the receiving cities to take care of the immigrants because they call themselves sanctuary cities.
And sanctuary, at least temporarily, is what the LA Welcomes Collective provides. Members hand out meals and hygiene kits to immigrants as they step off the buses. They offer temporary shelter and help asylum seekers reach their sponsors and get legal assistance.
On a recent Saturday morning, volunteers gathered at a Christian church in Echo Park to transform a basement into a short-term shelter. When most immigrants arrive, they just need a safe and comfortable place to rest, says Guillermo Torres, who coordinates the coalition’s work.
Edna Horiushi came to the Echo Park church to help make immigrants feel welcomed in LA. She gets the kitchen ready for a new paint job. Photo by Kerstin Zilm.
Volunteer Edna Horiushi is a member of Nikkei Progressives, a civil rights group based in Little Tokyo. She says her grandparents were immigrants, and she felt called to help the asylum seekers from Texas. In the church basement, Horiushi prepares kitchen cabinets for fresh paint. “I'm doing something simple, like removing the handles,” she says. “I can handle a screwdriver. It's something I can do.”
Next to her, Bailey Payne scraps dirt, tape, and old paint from the wall. She moved from Texas to Los Angeles a year ago and is embarrassed by her home state’s immigration politics. Payne disagrees with Governor Greg Abbott’s claim that Texas is overrun by illegal border crossers and can’t provide more shelter. “I think there's plenty of room and resources to share,” she says.
Pastor Frank Wulf pitches in to transform communal rooms in his church into a temporary shelter. Photo by Kerstin Zilm.
In the church basement’s bathroom, Pastor Frank Wulf plans to add showers. The pastor is one of several clergy who welcome immigrants when their buses pull in to Union Station. “We say to the people, ‘Buenos dias, bienvenidos a Los Angeles,’ he relates. “‘Welcome to Los Angeles, good morning.’ We also say to them, ‘You're no longer detained. Ustedes no están detenidos.’ Those are the first words out of our mouths.”
One recent immigrant who heard those words from Pastor Frank was Verelee, who arrived with her two daughters ages 2 and 3. KCRW is using only her middle name for her safety, because the single mother fled from an abusive husband in Honduras. It took the family almost a year to get to Texas. After crossing the border, her situation quickly became desperate. Without shelter or a job, the family ran out of money and food. Then in July, the family heard about free bus rides for asylum seekers to places all around the United States, and she took the opportunity to come to Los Angeles.
After the 24-hour bus ride, Verelee says the welcome in Los Angeles was much warmer than she expected. The coalition found refuge for the family in a Presbyterian church close to Downtown LA. There, she has a room with a bed, a fridge, and a cooktop. “I did not expect that strangers would treat me so well,” Verelee says.
The welcome collective is also giving her legal support. They arranged day care for her kids, and are helping her find a job and housing.
The coalition gets financial help from the city and the county of Los Angeles. For the most part, though, they rely on donations. Since June, almost 1,000 immigrants have arrived from Texas in 27 busses. The need for temporary shelters is great.
Contractor David Shapiro volunteers his time and expertise to transform an Echo Park church into a temporary shelter for asylum seekers. Photo by Kerstin Zilm.
At the Echo Park church, volunteers have started painting the walls. Even though there’s still a lot left to be done, Pastor Frank looks very happy. It gives him joy to see all these volunteers work together, he says, “to make this into a safe, and comfortable, and homey place for folks that we don't know yet – but we will know.”