point, because he s just abandoning them in washington, d.c., and it s up to the local community, again, the local community to respond. this is not hurting biden or the biden administration. this is burdening washington, d.c. s over 900,000 citizens that live here, that are trying to support and provide other services to its citizens. you direct the central american resource center. talk to me about the situation that so many people who have fled their countries, taking these incredibly dangerous journeys through mexico, just for the opportunity to ask for asylum and not being allowed to, what are the conditions those people have been facing now and they re facing today? well, i mean, it s very difficult. what we re seeing in the buses are primarily people from venezuela, nicaragua, cuba, and even from africa. you have to think what their trajectory has been. people from africa, they flew into brazil and some of them have walked all the way to the
russia and that country as they defend their territorial sovereignty. primarily focused in that donbas region. interestingly, as first reported by our capitol hill, pentagon and white house teams here at nbc news, administration officials are describing that new aid package as massive. not just in terms of dollar amounts, in terms of the length of the commitment. as a reminder, in early march congress passed $13 billion in funding to ukraine, both military and humanitarian governmental assistance. all but about $1 billion has been exhausted at this point. so, what the white house is describing in anticipation of the president s announcement is a funding commitment that will go well beyond the two months in the war that we ve already seen, but through the end of september. that s the end of the fiscal year here in washington. we re also expecting president biden to be asking for some new authorities from congress. one of the examples being given is, for instance, being able to liquidate
southern border just requesting protection and asylum from this nation. and i think that the u.s. has a responsibility to, at a minimum, hear their case, put in a good process. we understand that the system, it doesn t work as it should. we need to work to make it better. but governor abbott should not use vulnerable people to make a political point. i think he s being mean-spirited. again, in washington, d.c., we re going to do work to the best of our ability to ensure these people get a welcoming smile, some food in their stomachs, and then some sense of what their next move is. and if we can do that, we will continue to do that. abel nunez, thank you for being with us and thank you for what you re doing. appreciate it. thank you, jose, for having me. we re keeping an eye on the white house, as eve been telling you all hour. any minute president biden is expected to speak on ukraine, including the actions he wants to take against russian
how does it work when people arrive on the buses? well, the reality is that the buses just drop them off on the street in front of our train station, union station. what we get information that the bus is on its way, we time it in terms of the amount of time it needs to get to washington, d.c. and then we do a call out to volunteers to help them meet them. first of all, just to offer them accompaniment, to make sure they re not just left on the sidewalk to fend for themselves. and then we provide some intake, we provide some food. and then we help them get to their next destination, given that most are not staying in washington, d.c. i mean, a lot of these folks have family, have already plans of where they will be going in the united states while they await their process, if they ve requested asylum, et cetera. as of now, title 42 is still in effect. its schedule, as you know, to lift on the 23rd of may,
verizon is going ultra, so you can get more. 38 past the hour. texas governor greg abbott has been bussing migrants coming into texas via the southern border to washington, d.c., among other things, to protest the biden administration s decision to end title 42. but the new york times reports the plan isn t having quite its intended effect. one 26-year-old migrant told the times, quote, i d like to say thank you to the governor of texas. joining us now, able nunez, director of american resource center, one of the groups helping those migrants arriving on buses from texas. thank you for being with us.