With all the focus on various high-profile news stories, along with the latest series of outrages, the migrant crisis has flown under the radar even though the flood of migrants coming to the southern border remains a problem.
Texas has still been sending migrants to New York City and Chicago as more illegals and asylum seekers are entering the country. The mayors of both cities have complained about the influx of people using up resources, but Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot recently demanded that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott stop sending migrants to the Windy City.
Lightfoot has written a letter to Texas Governor Greg Abbott asking him to stop sending busloads of migrants to Chicago, claiming that the move is politically motivated. Abbott began sending migrant buses to Chicago and other sanctuary cities in response to the influx of migrant crossings at the southern border.
Lightfoot’s letter stated that Chicago officials learned Texas was planning to send additional migrants to sanctuary cities starting Monday and urged Abbott to reconsider. Lightfoot emphasized that Chicago lacks the necessary shelters and other resources to address further migrant relocations to the city. She also stated that the federal government needs to provide more resources and support to address the influx of migrants while also demanding policy changes to the US immigration system.
Lightfoot wrote:
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.
The mayor said she is sympathetic to the challenges of border towns in Texas, but that the issue will not be resolved by passing on the responsibility to other cities. She emphasized that the immigration crisis is a national challenge that requires national collaboration, and urged Abbott to work together to find a real solution.
Lightfoot previously criticized Abbott after the first buses were delivered to Chicago, saying the governor was “manufacturing a human crisis.” New York City Mayor Eric Adams has also been vocal about the migrant relocations to cities. Colorado Governor Jared Polis has also sent migrants from his state to sanctuary cities in recent months.
This is just the latest instance in which Lightfoot complained about Abbott sending migrants to her sanctuary city. Indeed, ever since the Abbott Express first began its rounds, she and Mayor Adams have been blasting Texas’ government as a political stunt.
Yet, as much as Lightfoot has criticized Gov. Abbott for sending busloads of migrants to Chicago, she has failed to hold the Biden administration accountable for its refusal to deal with the migrant crisis. While Abbott’s actions are certainly politically motivated, the reality is that the White House has done little to handle the influx of migrants at the southern border, and this has led to some states and cities taking matters into their own hands.
Perhaps Mayor Lightfoot should use her platform to hold the Biden administration accountable and demand that it take action to stop the flow of migrants into the United States. At the end of the day, this is a federal matter, meaning that President Joe Biden is supposed to enact policies designed to address the problem instead of simply allowing it to fall on state and local governments to deal with.
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