Chicago busing: The first bus carrying migrants from the Texas-Mexico border arrives in Illinois, officials say
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Undocumented migrants on board a charter bus from Texas arrived in Chicago Wednesday night, according to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office.
“To continue providing much-needed relief to our small, overrun border towns, Chicago will join fellow sanctuary cities Washington, D.C. and New York City as an additional drop-off location,” Abbott said in a statement.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot “loves to tout the responsibility of her city to welcome all regardless of legal status,” Abbott said, “and I look forward to seeing this responsibility in action as these migrants receive resources from a sanctuary city with the capacity to serve them.”
In a statement Wednesday night, Lightfoot’s spokesperson said, “Chicago is and will continue to be a welcoming city. We are collaborating across various City departments and with local, state and community partners to ensure everyone who arrives in Chicago is greeted and treated with dignity and respect.”
City officials maintain that temporary shelter solutions for those arriving from Texas will be found and support will be provided.
“The busing mission is providing much-needed relief to our overwhelmed border communities,” the governor’s office said Friday. “Operation Lone Star continues to fill the dangerous gaps left by the Biden Administration’s refusal to secure the border.”
Plans are underway for busing migrants to additional cities from Texas, Abbott said, but he did not specify Chicago in comments earlier Wednesday.
Texas is not alone among state governments choosing to bus migrants cross-country. Since May, more than 1,500 migrants on board 43 buses have departed from Arizona to Washington, DC, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s office told CNN. Depending on demand, the state is sending buses to Washington at a rate of around two to three per week, the governor’s office said.
CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez and Zenebou Sylla contributed to this report.
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