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The city’s Texas bus crackdown is only making things worse

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* The City of Chicago told alderpersons on Friday that zero buses carrying asylum-seekers had arrived from Texas in the previous seven days, down from around 25-30 buses a week in December.

Of course, that doesn’t mean nobody showed up. As we’ve discussed before, the bus companies hired by Texas are avoiding the city because of Chicago’s recent rules cracking down on when and where they can drop off migrants and imposing penalties, up to and including vehicle impoundment.

So, instead they’re dumping migrants in the suburbs, and the asylum-seekers are catching Metra trains into the city from there. From the Journal & Topics…

In a Friday, Jan. 5 meeting of regional municipal managers, led by the Northwest Municipal Conference, community leaders shared their experiences with migrant charter buses arriving in their towns.

Village officials said charter bus drivers are being told directly from the emergency management agency in Texas to disembark passengers in suburban communities.

* From the Daily Herald…

Scott Buziecki, [Kane County’s] director of emergency management, informed county board members that 150 buses have transported migrants into the suburbs since Dec. 1.

And non-home rule units are particularly vulnerable…

Elburn received one of the 10 buses [arriving in Kane County] carrying a total of 300 migrants after that Chicago ordinance took effect. It responded by also threatening the bus companies with fines. Local Republicans want the county to follow that example with their own fines, but Kane County Assistant State’s Attorney John Frank said neither Kane County nor Elburn has the legal standing to impose such fines.

“Non-home rule entities cannot take these sort of actions,” Frank told the county board. “You are very hamstrung in what you can do.”

But, despite the local uproar, it’s really been no big deal for the locals…

Buziecki said the migrants have committed no crimes during their 15- to 30-minute stays in the county while awaiting trains to Chicago.

Even so, the city needs to consider dumping or at least changing its rules. They’ve made things worse for everyone involved and sowed division across the region.

And the state should probably step up with its own new law if it can.

* Meanwhile, this little factoid was included in New York City’s lawsuit against the Texas bus companies…

According to public reporting based on data obtained under the Texas Public Information Act, the Defendants receive roughly $1,650 per person on chartered buses compared to $291 for a single one-way ticket.

They may receive a bit less to bus them to Illinois, but you can clearly see that those bus companies are really making bank.

* By the way, that NYC lawsuit cites a relevant state statute…

New York has a law to address just this kind of conduct. Section 149 of the New York Social Services Law requires that “[a]ny person who kno wingly brings, or causes to be brought a needy person from out of state into this state for the purpose of making him a public charge… shall be obligated to convey such person out of state or support him at his own expense.”

Illinois, as far as I can tell, has no such statute on its books.

* Isabel’s coverage roundup…

Pioneer Press | Mayor: Migrants no cause for concern in Burr Ridge:

* WGLT | McLean County to consider ban on taxpayer funds for migrants:Republican Chuck Erickson of Bloomington, who drafted the proposal, said the county can’t be sure that all of the people who may be delivered to McLean County are seeking political asylum and added they could pose a safety threat. “I am sure that some of these people are good people, but I’m not certain that all of them are good people and we just don’t know that,” Erickson said, and likened it to letting a stranger into your home.

* Block Club Chicago | Hundreds Of Migrants Sleeping In CTA Buses As City Braces For Winter Storm: Over 500 migrants slept in CTA buses at the city’s designated landing zone for new arrivals Monday — a record as Texas officials double down on busing people to Chicago and city leaders scramble to find enough housing with snow and freezing cold coming. As of Monday morning, 537 asylum seekers were at the landing zone at Desplaines and Polk streets, waiting to be placed at shelters, according to data from the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications. Dozens of people were walking around the area Monday, some throwing around a football for the first time. Many people were seen huddled inside CTA buses labeled “warming bus.”

* CBS Chicago | Chicago uses warming buses for migrants for winter storm: Right next to the landing zone, the state was working to construct its intake center. That included six heated tents meant not for housing but to provide placement and other services to migrants as they arrive.

* Evanston Round Table | Evanston plans to direct migrants to Chicago: ”Additionally, for months, the City of Evanston has actively sought suitable local shelter options for migrants. Unfortunately, given the density of our community, finding a safe and workable space has proven challenging. Nevertheless, we continue to explore providing shelter assistance and will leave no stone unturned as long as the crisis persists.”

* Journal & Topics | New Ordinance Addresses Migrants Coming To Mount Prospect: Mount Prospect trustees are expected at tonight’s (Tuesday) village board meeting to adopt an ordinance outlining the village’s role in ensuring any migrants who find themselves dropped off in the community are taken to a safe location.

* WGN | Concerns rise for migrant safety as severe weather approaches Chicagoland: Community leaders are concerned about Chicago’s migrant intake center in the city’s South Loop as severe weather approaches. The Pilsen Food Pantry workers are sounding the alarm on Monday after hungry and sick migrants are struggling to stay warm as they wait for increasingly scarce shelter space.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jan 9, 24 @ 1:34 pm

Comments

So how does New York State enforce this law if the person doing the sending doesn’t reside/visit the state’s confines?

Comment by Notorious JMB Tuesday, Jan 9, 24 @ 1:57 pm
===So how does New York State enforce this law if===

Hence the lawsuit.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jan 9, 24 @ 2:00 pm
Walking home yesterday near the intersection of State and Division in Chicago, I encountered several families on Dearborn. They were huddled together trying to stay warm and bed for funds.

There is a lot of foot traffic as there are several businesses like drug stores, grocery stores, and coffee shops nearby. It is heart wrenching to see these families in crisis.

Comment by Rudy’s teeth Tuesday, Jan 9, 24 @ 2:13 pm
There’s no possible way for housing to be built in such a short period ( for the numbers of asylum seekers). Chicago and El Paso doesn’t have the current capacity for this. It’s long past time to change the asylum laws unless America wants to become a Third World country.

Comment by Steve Tuesday, Jan 9, 24 @ 2:26 pm
===if the person doing the sending doesn’t reside/visit===

They’re not suing Texas, they’re suing the bus companies, which do, indeed visit the state.
C’mon.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jan 9, 24 @ 2:52 pm
The New York law regarding “needy charges” seems to have been clarified by the Supreme Court in Edwards v. California.

Some of the concurrence in Edwards points out that states cannot legally exclude immigrants.

Chicago chose to limit freedom of movement upon the advice and counsel of its progressive actors. Not so progressive to limit movements and purposefully misunderstand the welcoming city ordinance.

Comment by Chicago Voter Tuesday, Jan 9, 24 @ 2:53 pm
What are the companies being contracted to traffick asylum seekers from Texas to Illinois?

And do they have any connections to the companies applying as contractors to build and supervise asylum housing?

Comment by hisgirlfriday Tuesday, Jan 9, 24 @ 2:55 pm
=There’s no possible way for housing to be built in such a short period=

There are plenty of available housing in rural Illinois where we need people.

And if memory serves…weren’t you one of the ones extolling the exodus of people from Illinois? Plenty of empty space then.

Comment by JS Mill Tuesday, Jan 9, 24 @ 2:56 pm
===It’s long past time to change the asylum laws unless America wants to become a Third World country.===

How exactly does having asylum seekers make the US a third world country? Hmm, you capitalized Third World so maybe I missed the bit where they are trying to create a new country called Third World right under our noses. I still don’t see how brown people makes the US a 3rd world country.

I won’t disagree that the asylum laws need some updating so that certain states aren’t having to take the brunt of the immigrant load. That should probably entail communication between the states and a way to spread the burden across ALL states, not the ones that Texas doesn’t like. No asylum seeker should be allowed to be just dropped off in a random place especially in winter.

Comment by Aaron B Tuesday, Jan 9, 24 @ 3:03 pm
Remember when considering whether an immigrant would become a “public charge” was the height of racism? Pepperidge Farm remembers - https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/08/trump-public-charge-rule-immigrants-biden-00055505

Comment by Sad Tuesday, Jan 9, 24 @ 3:11 pm
-And if memory serves…weren’t you one of the ones extolling the exodus of people from Illinois? -

Asylum seekers who aren’t going to be public charges can afford housing in Illinois.

Comment by Steve Tuesday, Jan 9, 24 @ 3:58 pm
Let me throw out an alternative: the state passes a law with both criminal and civil penalties for disregarding (e.g., provide 24 hour notice of drop-off, proof of next-location transport, etc.), then file a John Doe suit against violators and demand discovery of Texas state records to locate them. Create a Constitutional crisis when Texas doesn’t extradite the violators, let the Courts try to justify this tactic.

Comment by lake county democrat Tuesday, Jan 9, 24 @ 4:47 pm
The City never had a real, comprehensive plan. They expended political goodwill in begging for federal money without showing any paperwork. The Feds were never going to hand over 10s of millions of dollars without seeing what the previous 10s of millions of dollars were spent on.

This was all predictable for people who have worked in program management, launching and executing on large scale programs through a variety of sectors. Problem is, that is no one on the 5th Floor anymore.

Comment by LastModDemStanding Tuesday, Jan 9, 24 @ 4:56 pm
===Illinois, as far as I can tell, has no such statute on its books.===

Yeah because it is unconstitutional.

Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Tuesday, Jan 9, 24 @ 5:48 pm
LastModDemStanding hits the nail on the head. The political leadership (if that’s what we can call it) currently in place on the fifth floor hasn’t provided anything close to a plan, guidance, support (insert whatever word you choose) to deal with this. The lack of Federal intervention has only exacerbated it. But there is no way we could go back with hands out without actually having an idea as to how it was going to work if more money is given. Sadly, I fear this is going to be the same thing that happens in March when the Bring Chicago Home tax vote occurs - even though nobody has shared an example of how those dollars are going to be used to help our homeless veterans and others who deservedly need help. If I go to my boss and ask for more money in my budget, she doesn’t tell me know before I walk in the door. But she does expect me to have a plan in place that spells out exactly how I’m going to use it. I just don’t understand how the folks on the fifth floor don’t get that logic.

Comment by Just a guy Tuesday, Jan 9, 24 @ 5:59 pm