Texas sends bus carrying 28 migrants, including sick child, to Philadelphia

A bus carrying 28 migrants from Texas arrived in Philadelphia on Wednesday, including a 10-year-old girl suffering from dehydration and a high fever who was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Advocates who welcomed the migrants with coats and blankets before dawn on a cold and drizzly morning said the families and individuals came from Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Cuba. The city and several non-profit groups were ready to provide food, temporary housing and other services.

The Texas governor, Greg Abbott, announced on Tuesday that Philadelphia would be the next destination for migrants the state is transporting by the thousands to Democratic-led areas.

Advocates who greeted the group in Philadelphia, which included 21 adults, said it was not clear how long the bus journey took. One said it would typically take about 40 hours.

Some families hope to unite with relatives or friends in other locations, Gym said.

US officials stopped more than 2m illegal border crossings in the last fiscal year, a record high that reflects deteriorating economic and political conditions in some countries along with the relative strength of the US economy and uneven enforcement of Trump-era asylum restrictions.

In the fiscal year that ended on 30 September, migrants at the US border were stopped 2.38m times, up 37% from 1.73m times the year before.

Other buses have turned up in recent months in New York, Washington and Chicago. Texas has transported more than 13,000 migrants since April. Abbott has sent the buses to Democratic-led cities as a way to maximize exposure over what he says is inaction by the Biden administration regarding the southern border.

Kenney said the city was working with more than a dozen local organizations to provide the migrants with shelter space, emergency health screening, food, water, language interpretation and more. Some will probably make their way to other states.

Arizona and Florida have also sent migrants to northern US cities.

Philadelphia has also welcomed waves of Ukrainians, Afghans and others in recent years. The people arriving from Texas are all in the US legally while they seek asylum, Kenney said.