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D.C. lawmakers ask Bowser to direct resources to aid migrants from Texas

The number of buses arriving in the city has doubled, exhausting donations and exceeding the ability of city volunteers and mutual aid networks to respond

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Updated July 19, 2022 at 4:36 p.m. EDT|Published July 18, 2022 at 8:00 p.m. EDT
Migrant children drew chalk drawings on the ground after arriving July 12 at the District’s Union Station on a bus that departed from Texas. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades for The Washington Post)
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Ten D.C. Council members are calling on the District government to direct local resources to support migrants who have been arriving in buses from Texas and Arizona for months, taking a toll on city organizations that are relying on donations and one federal grant.

It’s been more than three months since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and two months since Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) started offering what they have said are voluntary bus trips to the nation’s capital for migrants caught crossing the border from Mexico, a measure in response to President Biden’s decision to lift an emergency health order that allowed immigration authorities at the border to deny entry to migrants.