Another round of migrants arrive in Chicago; Florida joins Texas in sending them to sanctuary cities

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The latest round of migrants arrived in Chicago Thursday night with unrestrained, innocent joy.

This, they hope, is the end of a long and dangerous journey that began somewhere hundreds of miles south of Texas.

The last leg was a more than 1,000 mile road trip aboard a charter bus, making them at least the 12th busload of migrants arriving en masse in the city since August 31.

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Hours earlier, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin accused Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott of using the migrants as pawns.

"The fact that they would turn them loose in the city of Chicago, for example, without any warning whatsoever. Families with small Children were literally dumped at the train station in Chicago by the Governor of Texas," Durbin said.

Abbott also sent migrants to Washington D.C. Thursday, where they were dropped off near the home of Vice President Kamala Harris.

Wednesday night Florida Governor Ron DeSantis flew two planes full of migrants to Martha's Vineyard, a tiny island off the coast of Massachusetts.

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All three states are home to so-called sanctuary cities that have pledged to help migrants.

"We will help facilitate that transport for you, to be able to go to greener pastures," DeSantis said of his plane stunt.

Both Republican governors blame President Joe Biden for the soaring influx of migrants from Central and South America.

"We are fixing a broken system. It is not like turning the light switch on. It is going to take some time we understand that we have work to do," said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

Now dozens more migrants, some visibly in need of medical care, and young children in a completely foreign place will be given food and a safe shelter in the city.