Prince Pombo talks on the phone as he waits at the Greyhound bus station with his wife, Thaiz Santos Neri, and daughter, Heaven Pombo Neri, after arriving in Portland on Wednesday afternoon.

A woman walks with a young girl after arriving in Portland on Wednesday afternoon on a Greyhound bus.

Thaiz Santos Neri plays with her daughter, Heaven Pombo Neri, at the Greyhound station after arriving in Portland on Wednesday afternoon.

Portland City Manager Jon Jennings speaks at a news conference Wednesday at City Hall, with Mayor Ethan Strimling behind him. The city is opening an emergency shelter at the Portland Expo in response to a surge of asylum seekers coming to the city.

More than 140 asylum seekers were housed Wednesday at the Portland Expo, where they were fed and given cots for sleeping.

A woman sits in the aisle of a Metro bus with her baby daughter cradled on her back during a bus ride Wednesday from Portland's Family Shelter to the Portland Expo. Three buses delivered more than 140 asylum seekers.

Boxes holding cots are stacked against the bleachers at Portland Expo on Wednesday after being delivered by the Maine Emergency Management Agency. Volunteers and city employees set up more than 200 cots.

Joia Vanga, 2, and Sonia Fernando, 4, right, both of the Democratic Republic of the Congo play with another child among rows of cots Wednesday evening at the Portland Expo. The city is using the Expo as an emergency shelter for an influx of asylum seekers.

Joel Nduluyele, an asylum seeker from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, arrived in Portland on Sunday. "I suffered a lot to make it here,” he said Wednesday outside Portland’s Bayside Family Shelter. “A lot. A lot.”

Mbemba Rey stands with family members Wednesday outside Portland's Family Shelter. Rey, who does not speak English, was hesitant to share his story with a French-speaking reporter, but said he is originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and traveled through Central America to reach the United States. Rey said he arrived in Portland on Tuesday.

Prince Pombo waits at the Greyhound station after arriving in Portland on Wednesday afternoon with his wife and daughter.