Another round of migrants arrive in Chicago from Texas, totaling over 800 in recent weeks

ByLiz Nagy and ABC7 Chicago Digital Team WLS logo
Wednesday, September 21, 2022
Another round of migrants arrive in Chicago
The latest round of migrants arrived in Chicago Thursday night. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is now flying migrants to sanctuary cities too.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago received another round of migrants on Tuesday.



The city said 74 new migrants were transported to Chicago from Texas in this latest round. So far, 801 migrants have been sent to Chicago by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.



Note: The video in the player above is from a previous report.



Before that, another 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.



READ MORE | Gov. Pritzker issues disaster proclamation to assist Texas migrants



Hours earlier, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin accused Gov. 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 Gov. Ron DeSantis flew two planes full of migrants to Martha's Vineyard, a tiny island off the coast of Massachusetts.


RELATED | Some Texas migrants housed in suburban hotels; Burr Ridge mayor says he wasn't warned



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.

Copyright © 2024 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.