Three busloads of migrants were dropped off outside the Vice President’s official residence on Christmas Eve.
Tatiana Laborde, managing director of SAMU First Response, said six busloads of migrants were dropped off throughout the week.
“This past week, we’ve been on alert knowing that the numbers were going to increase from the border we have connections to nonprofits in Texas that provide us information,” she said.
The organization was not expecting any more buses to arrive over the weekend, but they received word that three buses had left Texas and would arrive on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning.
“So we quickly mobilized our team who was already on call, and they were able to respond,” Laborde said.
SAMU First Response starts with gathering information from the migrants to help them reach their final destinations.
“We gather basic demographics, age, gender, name, country of origin. We try to also identify other big issues like if they fear prosecution, are they here voluntarily or not,” she said.
Some migrants arrived in the D.C. region wearing only a t-shirt amid frigid temperatures and a deadly winter storm. Laborde said they had blankets for them but because they had so many migrants arrive earlier in the week, they didn’t have any more jackets for them.
However, Laborde thanked Sardi’s Chicken restaurant, which provided the migrants with 150 breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.
Laborde said the organization is always recruiting volunteers and fundraising on its website.
As illegal U.S.-Mexico border crossings reached record highs this year, Republican governors have been busing or flying migrants north to protest the Biden administration’s immigration policies.
