Claudia Tristán, a volunteer with the Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network, spent the wee hours of Sunday helping feed 140 migrants who were left by the roadside on Christmas Eve outside Vice President Kamala Harris' official residence, the Naval Observatory.
The big picture: Tristán and other advocates said the three buses came from Texas. An aide to Gov. Greg Abbott (R) hasn't responded to a text from Axios.
- "None of them knew where they were being dropped off," she told Axios, after hours of chatting with them. "They have no idea they're part of this bigger political game."
The bus drops have become common enough in D.C. that a network of volunteers and churches is ready to spring into action.
- Tristán told Axios that within half an hour of the arrival of the first bus, the migrants were on their way to a church to be warmed with coffee, tamales, beans and rice, and rotisserie chicken.
Tristán used a Bluetooth speaker to play Christmas carols in Spanish.
- She said some arrived in shorts, on D.C.'s coldest Christmas Eve on record.
The group included enough toddlers that a play area was set up for them.
- Tristán said the migrants were from many different countries, including Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and Chile.
The aid network sent the migrants on to destinations where they have contacts, including Philadelphia, Boston and Washington State.
