The mayor is dealing with migrants delivered from Texas by removing them.
QUICK FACTS:
- Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) is responding to Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) bussing illegal immigrants to her city by deporting them to an Illinois suburb.
- This action frustrated local officials who were saddled with a group of more than 100 migrants put up at the Hampton Inn in Burr Ridge and the Holiday Inn in Countryside.
- Some reports estimate that around 300 migrants have been transported from Texas to Chicago, a self-proclaimed sanctuary city for illegal immigrants.
- Texas and Arizona have bussed thousands of illegal migrants out of border communities to the cities where leadership has advocated for more lenient border policies.
CLASH BETWEEN ABBOTT AND LIGHTFOOT:
- “First Texas bus of migrants has arrived in Chicago,” Abbott announced on Twitter. “Biden’s inaction at our border puts Texans at risk and is overwhelming our communities. We’ll continue bussing migrants to sanctuary cities like NYC, DC, & now Chicago until the federal gov’t does its job & secures the border.”
- Lightfoot’s office responded by calling the bussing “racist” and “inhumane” despite the migrants volunteering for the trips: “As a city, we are doing everything we can to ensure these immigrants and their families can receive shelter, food, and most importantly protection,” Lightfoot said in a press release.
- “This is not new; Chicago welcomes hundreds of migrants every year to our city and provides much-needed assistance. Unfortunately, Texas Governor Greg Abbott is without any shame or humanity. But ever since he put these racist practices of expulsion in place, we have been working with our community partners to ready the city to receive these individuals,” she added.
BACKGROUND:
- In the 2022 fiscal year, a record 750 migrants have died crossing the border between the United States and Mexico.
- The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported this is over 200 more deaths than the last fiscal year, with a month yet to add to the figure.
- Just in the first week of September, there were nine migrants who drowned attempting to make the perilous journey across the rain-impacted Rio Grande into Texas.
