CHICAGO — Suburban mayors Monday called for better communication and coordination with Chicago and state governments after being surprised by busloads of migrants being sent to their towns — and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot pledged to work with the mayors.
Two CTA buses carrying about 90 migrants arrived Saturday at a Hampton Inn in Elk Grove Village,the latest group of asylum-seekers sent to the area by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as a way to criticize the nation’s immigration policies.
After being notified Friday afternoon that the buses were coming, Elk Grove Mayor Craig Johnson said he had many questions about whether they’d had health and safety checks, questions that federal immigration officials eventually answered satisfactorily.
Johnson said he had a cordial conversation with Lightfoot on Sunday, who, he said, apologized but said the state was overseeing the process. Johnson called for the state and city to work with suburban mayors to arrange an orderly transition for new arrivals.
“They’re upset with Texas, then you’re turning around and doing the exact same thing to me, sending these people without notifying us,” Johnson said. “Let’s work together on this.”
He said dozens of cars were waiting at the hotel, including some from out of state, apparently with friends or relatives who’d known the immigrants were coming.
Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso went further, saying it was “hypocritical” of Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker to criticize Abbott for shipping Venezuelan immigrants to Chicago, only to have them sent to Burr Ridge and Elk Grove Village with little or no notice.
Grasso said Lightfoot called him Sunday to say he should have been given notice of the arrivals to a hotel in Burr Ridge on Wednesday. But Grasso said Chicago still bore responsibility as the sanctuary city where the people arrived.
Initially, the governor’s office issued a statement in response to Grasso, saying that “xenophobia has no home here.”
At a news conference Monday, Pritzker explained that the state had very little notice from Texas, and had to almost immediately find shelter, food and medical care for the arrivals. The hotels were chosen, he said, simply because they had vacancies and were able to arrange accommodations quickly.
“We give notice as fast as we can,” he said.
“The governor of Texas needs to stop sowing chaos and needs to work with states” he said. Pritzker said the immigrants also must be transported willingly, “because otherwise it’s kidnapping.”
Abbott sent the immigrants, with more expected to come, to sanctuary cities, including Washington, D.C., and New York City, to protest federal policies allowing large numbers of immigrants coming into Texas.
Lightfoot’s office issued a statement that the city continues to work closely with the county, state, and federal partners to welcome the migrants that Texas is “inhumanely transporting.”
“As Mayor Lightfoot has said, we will work with Mayors across the metro area to maintain an open line of communication to provide adequate care and treat new arrivals with the dignity they deserve.”
The Illinois Department of Human Services issued a statement that some 300 recent migrants were being placed in urban and suburban hotels, in some cases where previous refugees, such as those from Afghanistan, had been placed.
“We will continue taking action to ensure everyone in Illinois has access to shelter, food, health care and other basic, essential supports,” according to the statement. “We anticipate that the state of Texas will continue to bus migrants to Illinois, and we remain committed to helping welcome new arrivals in a responsible, orderly and compassionate way.”
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