Mayor Lori Lightfoot urges Texas governor to stop 'inhumane' practice of busing migrants to Chicago

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Families of migrants, some pregnant and nursing sick children, with nowhere else to turn, are huddled on the cold, hard floors of police lobbies.

"It has become overwhelming for us, because we have run out of places for them," said Baltazar Enriques with the Little Village Community Council.

City officials said more than 8,000 migrants have arrived in Chicago since August, when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott abruptly began sending busloads of migrants from the border to Chicago without warning or any collaboration.

"We are averaging 125 migrants per day. We expect those numbers to grow drastically," said Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez, who represents the 25th Ward. "This is a political fight, and they're using migrants, these refugees, as pawns, and it shouldn't be like that."

In a letter on Sunday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot wrote to Abbott, saying, "I am, yet again, appealing to your better nature and asking that you stop this inhumane and dangerous action."

Lightfoot's lengthy letter goes on to acknowledge that Chicago is at "a critical tipping point in our ability to receive individuals and families in a safe, orderly, and dignified way. We simply have no more shelters, spaces, or resources to accommodate an increase of individuals at this level."

Lightfoot also said nearly all the migrants who have arrived in Chicago were "in dire need" of food, water and clothing, adding that many needed extensive medical care. She also said some migrants were in active labor, and some were victims of sexual assault.

"None of these urgent needs were addressed in Texas," Lightfoot said. "Instead, these individuals and families were packed onto buses and shipped across the country like freight without regard to their personal circumstances."

Lightfoot said she is sympathetic to the challenges that border states and cities face, telling Abbott, "I would rather work with you than against you," but called the situation "completely untenable."

The city only expects this emergency to grow direr when the COVID-19 pandemic-era policy known as Title 42 expires next week.

"We have now at least 40,000 refugees that are waiting at the border, who will be likely, many of them, coming to Chicago, and the city still does not have a plan. We presented a plan back in September, and the city still has not acted," Sigcho-Lopez said.

City budget officials said Friday that they estimate Chicago will need more than $20 million per month just through June to support the influx of migrants.

While $800 million of federal money from FEMA has been earmarked for the migrant crisis nationwide, none of it has been disbursed to Chicago yet.

"We're a city that welcomes migrants. We should have welcome centers for them, and we should be more prepared for the future," Enriques said.

Lightfoot's full letter to Abbott:

"To Governor Greg Abbott,

The City of Chicago is aware that the State of Texas is planning to resume bussing individuals and families to cities throughout the United States, including Chicago, starting Monday, May 1st. I am, yet again, appealing to your better nature and asking that you stop this inhumane and dangerous action.

Since we began responding to the arrival of migrants sent by your delegation in August 2022, we have shouldered the responsibility of caring for more than 8,000 men, women, and children with no resources of their own. That number continues to grow. Nearly all the migrants have been in dire need of food, water, and clothing and many needed extensive medical care. Some of the individuals you placed on buses were women in active labor, and some were victims of sexual assault. None of these urgent needs were addressed in Texas. Instead, these individuals and families were packed onto buses and shipped across the country like freight without regard to their personal circumstances.
Chicago is a Welcoming City and we collaborate with County, State, and community partners to rise to this challenge, but your lack of consideration or coordination in an attempt to cause chaos and score political points has resulted in a critical tipping point in our ability to receive individuals and families in a safe, orderly, and dignified way. We simply have no more shelters, spaces, or resources to accommodate an increase of individuals at this level, with little coordination or care, that does not pose a risk to them or others.

I know by your actions that you either do not see or do not care about the trauma these migrants have already faced and continue to suffer under the humanitarian crisis you have created. But I beseech you anyway: treat these individuals with the respect and dignity that they deserve. To tell them to go to Chicago or to inhumanely bus them here is an inviable and misleading choice.

Though I am sympathetic to the significant challenges that border cities face, this situation is completely untenable. The national immigration problem will not be solved by passing on the responsibility to other cities.

I will continue calling on the federal government for more resources and support, as well as much needed policy changes, just as I will call upon them to withhold all FEMA funding slated for Texas if chartered buses resume coming to our city. But I would rather work with you than against you.

Governor Abbott, this is not a state v. state or city v. city problem. The immigration crisis is a national challenge that requires national collaboration. For the good of our country and the individuals who are seeking safety in refuge, let's work together to find a real solution. And that real solution will never be the unilateral bussing of migrants to cities like Chicago."