44°
"You are welcome here," the mayor said at a press conference midday Wednesday, calling Philadelphia a "proud, welcoming city."
"Immigrants across time and generations have powered our city, driving our city forward economically, socially, and culturally," Kenney said.
The asylum-seekers rode a bus from Del Rio, Texas which was chartered by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the mayor said.
Philadelphia officials received no warning from the Texas state government, and only learned the migrants were coming from a press release, Mayor Kenney said.
"It's not just unproductive and disappointing but downright callous and irresponsible," he said of the stunt.
Still, Kenney said the city has been "gearing up" to receive a bus of migrants since the summer, when Gov. Abbott sent a bus of asylum seekers to New York City and later Washington, D.C., as Daily Voice reported.
City departments have prepared with 15 "community-based organizations" to provide "shelter space, emergency health screening, food and water, language interpretation and more" services to arriving migrants, the mayor said.
The city has also launched a webpage for Philadelphians who want to ease asylum seekers' transition.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Reading and receive free news updates.
