Watch: First Migrant Bus from Texas Border Unloads in Philadelphia

The first busload of migrants from Texas arrived in Philadelphia early Wednesday morning. A Breitbart News video crew captured the moment live.

On Tuesday, Breitbart Texas reported that Governor Greg Abbott added the city of Philadelphia to the growing list of sanctuary cities he designated to receive migrants released by the Biden Administration in Texas.

“Since April, Texas’ busing strategy has successfully provided much-needed relief to our border communities overwhelmed by the historic influx of migrants caused by President Biden’s reckless open border policies,” Governor Abbott said while announcing the bus departure from the Texas border region. “Until the Biden Administration does its job and provides Texans and the American people with sustainable border security, Texas will continue doing more than any other state in the nation’s history to defend against an invasion along the border, including adding more sanctuary cities like Philadelphia as drop-off locations for our busing strategy.”

The arrival in Philadelphia came as no surprise to city officials who spent last weekend in planning meetings for how to handle the arrival of less than 30 migrants. Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said the city would be ready to “welcome them with open arms.”

It does not appear that Mayor Kenney was on hand on Wednesday morning.

A woman who appears to be Philadelphia City Council Member Helen Gym can be heard in the live-streamed video saying, “I am incredibly honored to be here. In general, people feel relieved. We want them to know they have a home here.”

She claimed that one migrant child required medical attention after the journey.

“We have a 10-year-old who has a high fever and is deeply dehydrated,” Gym stated. “It’s an important example of why trips like this are inhumane and that the care should have been done on the front end before putting young children and family members on there.”

Finally, she called upon the federal government to make changes to immigration law.

“The major issue is the nation’s immigration system at the federal level must change,” Gym explained. “We have not had immigration reform for a quarter century … The country has to deal with the immigration system.”

The migrants boarded local buses and were transported to an undisclosed location.

A Texas Department of Emergency Management official responded to the allegation by Councilmember Gym, telling Breitbart Texas that all migrants are screened by the NGO in Texas prior to boarding the buses. In most cases, the migrants board the buses less than 24 hours after being released by Border Patrol or other federal agencies.

“The majority of the people who traveled on this bus were dropped off by Border Patrol just hours before the departure,” the official added.

“Our buses have plenty of food and water on board,” the official stated. “The NGOs screen the migrants and would never put someone displacing symptoms of illness or dehydration onboard.”

The official also explained that the migrants are not held on these buses. They are allowed to get off or seek medical attention at any point along the way. A security guard is on the bus who interacts with the migrants and is trained to look for people in distress or in other need of medical attention.

Border Patrol officials previously told Breitbart it is not uncommon for a migrant parent to hide their child’s medical condition until they get to a destination point.

The official said the federal agency will release the migrants at the NGO and then determines who wants to go to the destination city. The NGO gets the migrants to sign the voluntary transportation statement and screens them medically before letting them board the bus.

As of Friday, November 11, the State of Texas bused 13,200 migrants to the sanctuary cities of New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., according to information obtained from the Office of the Texas Governor. Washington received 8,300 of those. The state sent 3,700 to New York and another 1,200 to Chicago. Philadelphia has now received one bus with less than 30 migrants on board.

Abbott first announced migrant buses to DC in April, Breitbart Texas reported. During the period (April-October) when Texas bused just over 13,000 migrants from the Del Rio border sector to these cities, Border Patrol agents apprehended nearly 328,000 migrants. The border towns of Del Rio and Eagle Pass have a combined population of approximately 62,000 people.

“The busing mission is providing much-needed relief to our overwhelmed border communities,” Abbott’s office wrote in a statement released on Veterans Day.