Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced he has bused migrants from his state to Chicago.
It’s the third Democrat-run city to receive migrants from Texas. The other two are New York City and Washington, D.C.
“The migrants were dropped off at Union Station,” read a statement tweeted Wednesday night by Abbott. “In addition to Washington, D.C.. and New York City, Chicago will now be a drop-off location for the busing strategy as part of the governor’s response to President [Joe] Biden’s open border policies overwhelming border communities in Texas.”
In the statement, Abbott, a Republican, added: “President Biden’s inaction at our southern border continues putting the lives of Texans – and Americans – at risk and is overwhelming our communities. To continue providing much-needed relief to our small, overrun border towns, Chicago will join fellow sanctuary cities Washington, D.C. and New York City as an additional drop-off location.
“Mayor [Lori] Lightfoot loves to tout the responsibility of her city to welcome all regardless of legal status, and I look forward to seeing this responsibility in action as these migrants receive resources from a sanctuary city and with the capacity to serve them.”
Ryan Johnson, a spokesman for Lightfoot, tweeted that the city had received notification that a busload of about 60 migrants was headed to Chicago from Texas.
In a statement, the city said: “Chicago is a welcoming city and as such has collaborated across various departments and agencies to ensure we greeted them with dignity and respect. We understand that many are fleeing violent, traumatic, or otherwise unstable environments. We will respond with essential services while these individuals navigate the next steps of their journey and our community partners have been working diligently to provide a safety net.”
The city also blasted Abbott in the statement.
“Unfortunately, Texas Governor Greg Abbott is without any shame or humanity,” it said. “But ever since he put these racist practices of expulsion in place, we have been working with our community partners to ready the city to receive these individuals.”
According to Reuters, Texas has bused more than 7,000 migrants to Washington, D.C. and New York City since April. It has spent nearly $13 million on transportation through Aug. 8.