Despite an official’s previous assertions of an incoming migrant influx to compliment the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the situation looks unlikely now. In a recent address at the Republican National Convention held in Milwaukee, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, serving his third term, promised that migrant transportation will persist until an effective border control is implemented. However, based on an evaluation of state records, no instances of migrants being transported to Chicago from Texas have been recorded post June 14, after which point there has been a discernible stagnation.
An estimated total of 4,300 migrants made their way to Chicago via buses spanning the time period from August 2022 till July 2023. The number of arrivals swelled rapidly in the subsequent fall, hitting the tally of 17,200 by November’s end. Entering into the new year, over 28,000 migrants had already been transported to Chicago using the Texas buses.
A continued albeit slower increase was observed in the early months of 2024 as compared to the previous year. The migrants’ count exceeded 34,000 by April, but the surge seemed to notably peter out in early June after the figure breached the 36,000 mark. For seven consecutive weeks following this period, the state has remained tight-lipped about any further migrant movement to Chicago.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker pointed out with a sense of relief that the sight of buses filled with migrants headed to Chicago has become rarer, with no such bus sightings reported over the past month and a half. This remarkable fall in arrivals also coincides with a considerable decrease in apprehensions of migrants at the southern border.
A sharp drop is observed in the data from the late months of 2023 when the arrests of illegal immigrants fell from 250,000 in December to fewer than 60,000 in July. This dramatic slump in border arrests and subsequent releases into the United States have caused a smaller demand for public transport, including state-funded bus services to sanctuary cities like Chicago.
As a consequence, Chicago seems to be returning to somewhat normal operations after a period of intense activity. The peak for the city was reached in January 2024 when it had to accommodate 15,000 migrants across 28 emergency shelter facilities spread throughout the city. That number saw a notable reduction by June, with fewer than 6,000 migrants occupying 17 shelters.
Going back to the beginning of this organized transportation of migrants, one can trace it back to 2022 when Abbott’s office initiated the provision of free rides to New York City and Washington, D.C. This operation was extended to include Chicago in its sphere as of August 2022.
While the spending details of these bus operations over the last two years remain undisclosed from Abbott’s office, Texas has proudly announced an 85% decline in arrests at the state’s Mexico border since the implementation of augmented security measures in early 2021. This has prompted migrants to explore other states like California and Arizona for entry.
In a report published by the New York Times in July, the expenditure on transporting about 120,000 migrants across six cities totaled to roughly $230 million. This bussing operation came in addition to other enhanced statewide measures to deal with the surge of illegal immigrants attempting to cross the Mexico border.
Abbott first rose to counter the surge in March 2021 by dispatching 10,000 state police and military personnel to the state border under the label of ‘Operation Lone Star’. These buses were designed to ferry migrants to certain jurisdictions, often under Democratic governance and identified as ‘sanctuary’ zones, which traditionally resist federal immigration law enforcement.
The majority of these migrants, once they successfully cross the border, are released into the U.S. under humanitarian parole. Others are granted paperwork instructing them to make an appearance at an immigration court. The journey on these buses is entirely on a voluntary basis, and migrants must sign waivers before embarking.
The migrants are not under any federal, state, or local jurisdiction during their journey. Cities where the migrants are received have often voiced their dissatisfaction about Texas’s approach, highlighting the lack of warning before the arrival of several people in their cities on a daily basis.
Migrant Transportation to Chicago Faces Sudden Stagnation appeared first on Real News Now.
About Author
