Are people in the US illegally being bused to Myrtle Beach, SC? Here’s what we have found
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A social media post that has been circulating on residents’ Facebook pages alleges that people living in the country illegally have been bused to Myrtle Beach and are staying in hotels using taxpayer dollars.
The photo was taken on Nov. 28, 2023, according to the social media user who posted it.
The post gaining traction locally on social media shows a photo of several people getting off a type of tour bus at Hotel Blue, located at 705 S. Ocean Blvd., in Myrtle Beach.
Bill Tavui, a Myrtle Beach resident who posted the photos on Tuesday, said they were taken by a friend.
His friend was told by police at the time that it could be people coming to the city for an athletic event. He said people have asked how he knows they are people in the country illegally.
“How do you know?” Tavui said. “You look at the pictures. What else makes sense?”
A person answering the phone at Hotel Blue declined to comment and referred questions to the general manager at Captain’s Quarters, another Myrtle Beach hotel. A message left with the manager was not returned.
Myrtle Beach City Spokesman Mark Kruea said by email that the information “has no basis in fact.”
He said the city has had questions from people about the social media post. The city is not participating in any efforts to relocate those living in the country illegally, Kruea said.
He did say that the bus could have been carrying people who are in the city for sporting events. “With $174 million in sports tourism last year, buses and vans full of baseball and softball players, etc., do arrive in Myrtle Beach,” Kruea said.
Kruea said a Lutheran organization, unaffiliated with the city, discussed relocating refugees to the city a little more than a year ago.
Erin Kidd, communications manager for Lutheran Services Carolinas, did not confirm Wednesday that the people were part of the agency’s refugee relocation program.
Lutheran Services works with the U.S. government, which determines the number of people permitted to into the country each year. Those people then go through a referral, interview and screening process before they are assigned to one of 10 voluntary resettlement agencies in the U.S., according to the agency’s website.
This story was originally published March 21, 2024 at 9:13 AM.
