Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot criticized Texas Gov. Greg Abbott after dozens of immigrants were bused to the windy city on Sunday and have asked her people for help to get the migrants back on their feet.
On Monday, a group of newly-arrived migrants gathered at the corner of Humboldt Park Salvation Army shelter. The area has become a place for migrants to stay on their way to somewhere else.
Lightfoot Slams Abbott
Xanat Sobrevilla of the Organized Communities Against Deportation, said, "I saw a lot of little children trying to be children under very stressful circumstances. [They were ages] 2, 7, and oldest I saw was 12 years old."
Many volunteers from several of the city's non-profits were on-site Sunday to help translate as an initial intake process took place. Pilsen's Resurrection Project was among those taking the lead. They said that only 38 of the 50 migrants were taken to the shelter, the vast majority of whom were families, as per ABC7 Chicago.
Erendira Rendon of the Resurrection Project said that some of the migrants were going to get picked up by family members. She added that a few of them were going to New Jersey, but noted that for the time being, they needed a place to sleep and rest.
The number of migrants that have arrived in Chicago from Texas since Wednesday was 125, mostly from Venezuela. The busing program is one that is being carried out unilaterally by Gov. Abbott, who started using the procedure to send migrants to New York and Washington, D.C., starting in April.
According to Fox News, during a press conference, Lightfoot said that her frustration came from the actions of the Texas governor. She argued that there should be a level of coordination and cooperation but noted that Abbott chose to do none of those things.
Border Crisis
On the other hand, Abbott fired back at the Chicago mayor saying that Lightfoot should instead focus on the real problem, which is the border crisis exacerbated by President Joe Biden. In a Twitter post, the Texas governor said that the Democrat's inaction was putting the lives of Texas at risk and was overwhelming their communities.
But Lightfoot, in an address on Sunday, said that Chicago was a welcoming city and is always going to step up and do the right thing to make sure that migrants coming in are well received and supported. The official announced the launch of a donation page for the migrants in response to the arrivals.
The website asks for necessities like clothes, shoes, diapers, and blankets and asks willing participants to sign up to be volunteers and help with donations. Lightfoot noted that migrants were coming in as families with children having their first taste of democracy.
Abbott's busing operation stemmed from his criticism of the Biden administration's attempts to lift a Title 42 order that allowed the U.S. to deny asylum-seekers entry into the country during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program reportedly cost Texas approximately $12.7 million and Abbott's office said that migrants were only transported after giving written permission, NBC Chicago reported.
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