Chicago Mayor Urges Texas Governor Abbott To Stop Bussing Migrants As City Reaches Maximum Capacity

CHICAGO – Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot has written a letter to Texas Governor Greg Abbott, urging his administration to cease the “inhumane and dangerous” action of bussing migrants to Chicago. The City, which has already welcomed over 8,000 men, women, and children since August 2022, remains at maximum capacity for shelter space, services, and resources.

“We simply have no more shelters, spaces, or resources to accommodate an increase of individuals at this level, with little coordination or care, that does not pose a risk to them or others,” writes Mayor Lightfoot.

Texas plans to resume bussing individuals and families to cities throughout the United States, including Chicago, next week. The City of Chicago is aware of these plans and hopes that Governor Abbott will consider the impact on Chicago’s ability to provide safe and dignified accommodations for migrants.

The full text of Mayor Lightfoot’s letter to Governor Abbott you can read below.

“To Governor Greg Abbott,

The City of Chicago is aware that the State of Texas is planning to resume bussing individuals and families to cities throughout the United States, including Chicago, starting Monday, May 1st. I am, yet again, appealing to your better nature and asking that you stop this inhumane and dangerous action.

Since we began responding to the arrival of migrants sent by your delegation in August 2022, we have shouldered the responsibility of caring for more than 8,000 men, women, and children with no resources of their own. That number continues to grow. Nearly all the migrants have been in dire need of food, water, and clothing and many needed extensive medical care. Some of the individuals you placed on buses were women in active labor, and some were victims of sexual assault. None of these urgent needs were addressed in Texas. Instead, these individuals and families were packed onto buses and shipped across the country like freight without regard to their personal circumstances.

Chicago is a Welcoming City and we collaborate with County, State, and community partners to rise to this challenge, but your lack of consideration 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. We simply have no more shelters, spaces, or resources to accommodate an increase of individuals at this level, with little coordination or care, that does not pose a risk to them or others.

I know by your actions that you either do not see or do not care about the trauma these migrants have already faced and continue to suffer under the humanitarian crisis you have created. But I beseech you anyway: treat these individuals with the respect and dignity that they deserve. To tell them to go to Chicago or to inhumanely bus them here is an inviable and misleading choice.

Though I am sympathetic to the significant challenges that border cities face, this situation is completely untenable. The national immigration problem will not be solved by passing on the responsibility to other cities.

I will continue calling on the federal government for more resources and support, as well as much needed policy changes, just as I will call upon them to withhold all FEMA funding slated for Texas if chartered buses resume coming to our city. But I would rather work with you than against you.

Governor Abbott, this is not a state v. state or city v. city problem. The immigration crisis is a national challenge that requires national collaboration. For the good of our country and the individuals who are seeking safety in refuge, let’s work together to find a real solution.  And that real solution will never be the unilateral bussing of migrants to cities like Chicago.”