ATLANTA -- It was still dark on a recent Friday morning when Joan DeWitt, 79, weaved her way through the crowd at the Greyhound station in downtown Atlanta, carryings bags of food, blankets, and hygiene kits.
The volunteer grandmother was there to give a helping hand to bleary-eyed migrants freshly arrived from cities near the Mexican border. Since 2018, a local chapter of the nonprofit Grannies Respond, the group DeWitt volunteers through, has greeted newcomers at area bus stations. They offer humanitarian aid and, for those whose final destination is in-state, information about Georgia.
The group also goes by the name “Atlanta Transit Angels.” Their role gives them a front-row seat to the effect of changing federal policies around asylum and border enforcement – including a recent crackdown by the Biden administration in response to a record-breaking surge in migrant apprehensions in 2022.
