Department of Defense denies Bowser's request for migrant assistance Transcript

Speaker 1: (00:01) Buses and buses of asylum seekers are still showing up to Union Station. And tonight we got some big updates on what is and what is not being done about it. Good evening. I'm Leslie foster. These buses are coming in from all over the country and DC's mayor has received another setback in trying to get a handle on this situation. John Henry is live from Union Station with what we know. Hey John. Speaker 2: (00:24) Hey Leslie. So far more than 8,700 asylum seekers have been bused here from the states of Texas and Arizona so far. And then many of those people get on buses to elsewhere across the country, but sometimes they have nowhere else to go so they stay here in DC. That's why DC's mayor has requested twice the national guard to step in and help process new arrivals. But for the second time, the Pentagon has denied the mayor's requests saying the guard did not have the necessary training. Meanwhile, the focus tonight for many of those families arriving here who have young children is education. DCPS students go back to school next week. And when questioned Monday whether children bus to the district from Arizona and Texas should be allowed in local schools, DC mayor Muriel Bowser got straight to the point. Speaker 3: (01:18) School aged children will go to school. That's the plan. Speaker 2: (01:21) Other school districts in our region say they'll welcome those children too. Prince George's county says it has a long history of providing educational services to immigrants as more than 40% of their student body are either immigrants or children of immigrants. Next door, Montgomery county public schools told us it takes all students and that it doesn't expect adding any children bused from the border will overwhelm their system. Still, those children will face challenges. After all many of them came to DC with little else to nothing. [inaudible 00:01:53] serves as an organizer with the migrant solidarity mutual aid network and sanctuary DMV. Two groups working to help migrant children and their families get the resources they need. Speaker 4: (02:04) Everything has to be found and provided. We're definitely working on that and hope to get everything ready for them as school starts. Speaker 2: (02:16) Now those groups were also happy that DC's request for the national guard was denied. They say they're against what they call the militarization of humanitarian aid. And believe that the district government should be doing more to support those migrants who are being bused here. Meanwhile, the mayor tweeted about four hours ago regarding the denial of her request for the national guard. She said, "We're going to move forward with our planning to ensure that when people are coming through DC on their way to their final destination, that we have a humane setting for them here." Leslie. Speaker 1: (02:50) There's still so many more logistics to work out around all of this, John, thank you.