Dem Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has demanded Texas officials stop their “inhumane and dangerous” busing of migrants to the Midwestern sanctuary city, which she said has reached a “critical tipping point.”
In an impassioned Sunday missive to GOP Texas Gov. Greg Abbot, the lame-duck mayor said that since August, Chicago has cared for about 8,000 men, women and children who crossed into the US illegally and then claimed asylum, saying they are seeking refuge from failing governments, persecution and violence.
Lightfoot, who will be replaced by Democrat Brandon Johnson on May 15 after losing re-election, said her “welcoming” city has run out of shelter space and can no longer care for the migrant influx in a “safe, orderly, and dignified way.”
The outgoing mayor accused Abbott of attempting “to cause chaos and score political points” by what she called inconsiderate and uncoordinated busing of migrants to the Second City.
“Nearly all the migrants have been in dire need of food, water, and clothing and many needed extensive medical care,” Lightfoot wrote, according to the Chicago Defender, which published the letter in full.
“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.”
Abbott has previously said Lightfoot “loves to tout the responsibility of her city to welcome all regardless of legal status” and that he looked “forward to seeing this responsibility in action.”
The Texas Republican has been busing and flying migrants from his border state to Democrat-led enclaves such as New York City and Chicago in protest over Biden administration immigration policies, a move that the White House has labeled a “publicity stunt.”
Lightfoot noted in her letter that she would appeal to the federal government for support, too, echoing New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ desperate appeal to President Biden two weeks ago.
In Adams’ strongest statements since the city was inundated with migrants crossing the southern border, the Democratic mayor accused the Democratic administration of “abandoning” the Big Apple after triggering “one of the largest humanitarian crises” in its history.
The city has been grappling with a projected $4.2 billion tab to handle the recent flood of tens of thousands of migrants into the Big Apple through the middle of next year alone, Adams has said. He estimated about 55,000 asylum seekers have arrived in the city since last spring, when the Republican governors of Texas and Florida began busing them here.
Hizzoner warned that the number of migrants needing taxpayer-funded services in the city could soon swell to 100,000 when the Trump-era emergency measure that allowed officials to expel millions of asylum seekers on public health grounds during the COVID pandemic expires May 11.
In August, Lightfoot accused Abbott of being “racist” for busing migrants to Chicago. She also claimed the Trump administration was guilty of “human cruelty,” despite the fact that Republican former President Donald Trump had been out of office for more than a year and a half by that time.
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