Recently, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker sent a public letter addressed to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, pleading for him to stop his migrant busing campaign to Chicago, a sanctuary city. Amid the ongoing migrant crisis impacting localities nationwide, the Windy City’s resources and infrastructure have been severely strained by the massive inflow of illegal immigrants.
According to Pritzker’s letter, the Illinois governor accused Abbott of sowing chaos for political gain. The midwest governor slammed Abbott for shipping illegal immigrants to the region during one of the most challenging seasons of the year.
“You are now sending asylum seekers from Texas to the Upper Midwest in the middle of winter – many without coats, without shoes to protect them from the snow – to a city whose shelters are already overfilled with migrants you sent here,” Pritzker said.
The letter continued, asserting that Gov. Abbott is demonstrating a lack of interest in coming to an agreement on mutually desired immigration reform at the federal level. “You seem to have no interest in working on bipartisan solutions to the border crisis because that would put an end to your cruel political game, but I am writing to you today hoping to appeal to your humanity,” the Illinois governor said.
Pritzker maintained that there is much to be desired from the Biden administration amid the lack of substantive action around the southern border. However, he did concede that the dire situation in border states, such as Texas, is “untenable” and requires a bipartisan census.
“There is much more that needs to be done by the federal government to provide aid to asylum seekers and to secure the border. I understand that this border crisis is untenable for border states. Illinois, and all other states, especially Texas, ought to lobby Congress immediately to vote for bipartisan immigration reform,” he added.
The American Tribune recently reported on Gov. Abbott’s busing initiatives, where he dodged new Chicago ordinances aimed at hindering the inflow of illegal immigrants from Texas. Abbott recently began charting flights from Texas to Illinois alongside the busing program.
“Sanctuary city Chicago started obstructing and targeting our busing mission. Texas will now expand our operation to include flights to Chicago. Until Biden steps up to secure the border, we will continue to provide overwhelmed Texas border towns with much-needed relief,” Abbott said
Democrat Chicago Mayor Eric Adams had enacted a city ordinance that granted the authority to impose fines and impound buses carrying migrants under some circumstances. Officials in Rockford, Illinois, also released a statement commenting on Gov. Abbott’s redistribution of illegal immigrants and the new ordinances.
“As many people may know, the City of Chicago recently adopted an ordinance with certain requirements related to the arrival of migrants,” the statement said. “As a result, the governor of Texas has redirected buses and planes to other nearby cities.”.
The Texas governor recently posted on social media a high-level overview of the success of his busing program, redistributing the burden of the migrant crisis to blue states and sanctuary cities. “Texas began busing migrants to sanctuary cities to provide overwhelmed border towns with vital relief. Over 12,500 to DC Over 22,600 to NYC Over 18,000 to Chicago Over 3,200 to Philadelphia Over 5,700 to Denver Over 1,100 to LA,” posted Abbott on X.
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