Texas governor sends the first bus of migrants to Chicago 

Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent a bus with around 60 migrants to Chicago on Wednesday to push back against the nation’s immigration policies amid the growing border crisis.

The Texas governor called on Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to implement her city’s “sanctuary” law that limits cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

“Mayor 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 with the capacity to serve them," Abbott said in a statement. 

Mayor Lightfoot’s spokesperson Ryan Johnson confirmed that around five dozen migrants had arrived from Texas, adding that Chicago will work with community partners to ensure that the migrants receive food and shelter. 

“This is not new; Chicago welcomes hundreds of migrants every year to our city and provides much-needed assistance,” Mayor Lightfoot said in a statement. “Unfortunately, Texas Governor Greg Abbott is without any shame or humanity. 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.”

Abbott has already sent more than 7,000 undocumented migrants to Washington, D.C. since April and over 900 migrants to New York City since August 5, according to a press release from the governor’s office. 

“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 Biden's open border policies overwhelming border communities in Texas,” said the governor’s office in a Wednesday press release. 

Abbott claims that he is sending the buses to northern states because President Joe Biden has failed to secure the U.S.-Mexico border as an unprecedented number of migrants are crossing country lines. Since October, more than 1.8 million individuals have attempted to cross the border, four times more than those who were intercepted at the border in 2020. 

"President Biden's inaction at our southern border continues putting the lives of Texans—and Americans—at risk and is overwhelming our communities," said Governor Abbott.