Texas Gov. Greg Abbott continues to target Chicago as he persists in his efforts to transport busloads of people he does not want to accommodate in his state, individuals who also cannot be lawfully repatriated to their countries of origin, to other states.
According to The Texas Tribune, Abbott has sent over 80,000 migrants to cities governed by Democrats since initiating his busing program in 2022. This influx of migrants has given rise to confusion and predicaments in these cities. As reported by Axios, the existing migrant predicament in Chicago is predominantly an engineered one, as most of the migrants arriving in the city originate from Texas.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has been trying to devote resources to care for and house the 25,000 new arrivals to the city, and Chicago has spent $138 million to support the migrants since October 2022. According to Axios
, after migrant children who were staying at a shelter run by Favorite Healthcare died, scrutiny of the staffing company increased.As WBUR reported in October 2023, tensions between the denizens of Chicago and the proposed siphoning of resources from already historically neglected neighborhoods to care for the migrants began bubbling to the surface. In a public meeting, several members of Chicago’s Westside Austin neighborhoods expressed frustration at the idea of using their community resources to assist the migrants, who it should be noted did not ask to be transported to Chicago, and many were unprepared for the harsh winter climate.
Johnson, in turn, has blamed Abbott for creating and sustaining the migrant crisis in his city. According to ABC 15, Abbott, Johnson says, is unconcerned about the material conditions of the migrants he sends to Chicago.
“The issue is not just how we respond in the city of Chicago, it’s the fact that we have a governor, an elected official in the state of Texas that is placing families on buses without shoes, cold, wet, tired, hungry, afraid, traumatized and then they come to the city of Chicago where we have homelessness, we have mental health clinics that have been shut down and closed,” Johnson said. “The governor of Texas needs to take a look in the mirror of the chaos that he is causing for this country.”
Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also
weighed in during comments on Dec. 19, saying that the migrant crisis was “devastating” to her personally before adding, “And I know that the president feels the same way. This is why we have taken it very seriously from day one when it comes to dealing with the broken immigration system. That is why the first piece of legislation that the president put forth was on immigration and doing everything that we can in a comprehensive way to deal with it.”However, critics say Biden’s proposed border policy is complicating things.
Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the ACLU, said “If these same immigration proposals were authored by Donald Trump and Stephen Miller, Democrats would be outraged. Expedited removal basically means fake due process for immigrants. Expanding the detention system and fast-tracking deportations contradicts President Biden’s campaign pledges. These proposals will not offer a real fix to our immigration system.”
Romero concluded, “The administration’s search for a quick fix at the border is becoming increasingly quixotic. Even if these policies are enacted, we will see surges at the border with increased human suffering – as we haven’t addressed the root causes or systemic failures of our immigration system.”
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