Haitian Asylum Seekers Dropped Off In Shreveport, La

I like to think that I am pretty informed of things that seem newsworthy however this news story caught me off guard. I know about the issues at the Southern border, I know that there are sanctuary cities in Louisiana, I know that the immigrants flooding across the border have to go somewhere but it never crossed my mind that one of those places would be Shreveport, Louisiana. 

On my way home yesterday I was flipping through the radio stations and I stumbled upon an interview with Senator Bill Cassidy, I stopped to listen since he is from Louisiana. What the Senator was saying shocked me so of course, I had to dig to find out more once I got home. 

Last Thursday, 80 immigrants from Haiti were dropped off at the bus station in Shreveport, Louisiana. That is not the shocking part of the story, it turns out that state and local officials were given almost no notice that these people were going to be dropped off. Shreveport City Officials did not have the time or information to make the proper arrangements for these asylum seekers. 

Senator Bill Cassidy is upset and is speaking out on the situation saying that it is not fair to the city, its residents, and the migrants that proper channels of communication were not used in this situation. 

 It seems that volunteers in Shreveport have stepped up to assist over 400 asylum seekers with making travel plans so that they can be reunited with families members that are in other states. 

While we can sit here and debate all the things that went wrong in this story and who is at fault, I truly feel bad for the people that were on that bus. They didn't know where they were, probably didn't speak English very well, and had nothing with them in terms of accommodations, food, or money. While more communication needs to happen in the future I am glad that this bus ended up in Louisiana because like I always say this state and its people are amazing! These residents in Shreveport knew that the situation was not a good one but took it upon themselves to make the best of the cards they were dealt. They stepped up and showed these asylum seekers just what Louisiana is all about and helped them get to where they needed to go.