Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) announced late Wednesday evening the Texas Department of Public Safety will now be sending migrants, who have been processed and released by Border Patrol, to the sanctuary city of Chicago amid the historic border crisis.
Chicago will now be an option for migrants to travel to in addition to Washington, D.C. and New York City.
"President Biden's inaction at our southern border continues putting the lives of Texans—and Americans—at risk and is overwhelming our communities," said Abbott. "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. Mayor Lightfoot loves to tout the responsibility of her city to welcome all regardless of legal status, 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."
The first set of buses dropped off the migrants, most of them from Venezuela, at Union Station. At first, no one from the city was there to aid them. A bus eventually came to take the group to a homeless shelter.
The first two buses of migrants from Texas arrived at Chicago’s Union Station this evening. Many of them told me they’re from Venezuela. They said they were expecting someone to be here to help them when they arrived, but there isn’t anyone here. pic.twitter.com/2ExPLEtQIa
— Grady Trimble (@Grady_Trimble) September 1, 2022
The migrants who arrived from Texas tonight are getting onto city of Chicago buses now. I’m told they’re being taken to a shelter. https://t.co/IONDilZJQH pic.twitter.com/SzwmvCgeVr
— Grady Trimble (@Grady_Trimble) September 1, 2022
Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) said she welcomes the group to the city but said Abbott's actions of how "racism, discrimination, and human cruelty have played a pivotal role in how migrants are received within our borders and we are still working to recover from the previous administration."
NEW: Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot responds to TX sending first migrant buses to Chicago.
— Matt Finn (@MattFinnFNC) September 1, 2022
“…racism, discrimination, and human cruelty have played a pivotal role in how migrants are received within our borders and we are still working to recover from the previous administration” pic.twitter.com/A82FWaZ6dp