Chicago City Wire

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is urging Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to stop sending migrants to her city.

"Today, @chicagosmayor sent a letter to Governor Greg Abbott urging his administration to stop the inhumane and dangerous action of busing migrants to Chicago," the mayor's deputy director of communications Ryan Johnson tweeted. "We are aware that Texas is planning to resume busing individuals and families to cities including Chicago."

Abbott is expected to be sending more busloads of migrants from the Texas-Mexico border to cities around the country at the beginning of May, including  Chicago. This would be adding to the over 8,000 individuals he has sent to the city since August of 2022, and city officials say that they expect them sometime May 1 or 2, Johnson said.                   

 Lightfoot released an official letter to Abbott, requesting that he stop sending buses of migrants to her city, which she claims is overwhelmed and not equipped to handle more people. She explained that many of the migrants were in need of all basic necessities: food, water, clothing, and serious medical help. She said some were even women in active labor or victims of assault. The city has no more open space in shelters or homes to accommodate these people, and some reports say migrant families have been seeking out police departments to be able to sleep on their floors as a form of shelter.                 

Lightfoot said she was aware and sympathetic to the challenges of being a border state, and would be more than willing to work in collaboration with Texas and their communities to offer support and find solutions that work best for everyone, however her city cannot continue to bear the brunt of these efforts, CBS Chicago reported. She will continue to call on the federal government for funding and policies to address this issue.  Abbott has not made any public responses, the station said.

 “Chicago is a Welcoming City and we continue to collaborate with county, state, and community partners to rise to this challenge," Lightfoot said on Twitter. "The lack of confederation 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.”