Chicago is a sanctuary city, meaning “the City will not ask about your immigration status, disclose that information to authorities, or, most importantly, deny you City services based on your immigration status.” The Windy City also refuses to work with immigration agencies because “partnering with ICE would go against our mission to make Chicago the most immigrant-friendly city in the country and turn ours into a community of fear for immigrants.”
Unfortunately, dreams are slamming straight into the cinderblock of reality in the nation’s third-largest metropolis, and Chicago’s soon-to-be-departing mayor Lori Lightfoot declared a state of emergency Tuesday because of an influx of migrants, many of them sent by Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott.
The mayor’s office released a statement explaining her reasoning for declaring the emergency:
Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot issued an emergency declaration in response to the surge of new arrivals since last month, with large numbers of people, mostly families, arriving to Chicago and following the arrival today of 48 individuals and families inhumanely bussed to Chicago by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Since August 2022, the City has coordinated a multi-departmental, city-wide strategy in partnership with the State and Cook County for receiving and providing emergency care for over 8,000 new arrivals.
This might be Lightfoot’s last big move as mayor, because she was voted out of office in recent elections and will depart the job May 15.
Chicago Mayor @LoriLightfoot opposed calling a state of emergency during the George Floyd race riots of 2020 and we watched the city burn. Chicagoans have lived in fear of violent crime and death ever since. But today, Lightfoot has declared a state of emergency over the migrant… pic.twitter.com/nGPZvYgn1V
— Reporter William J. Kelly #thatreporter (@Williamjkelly) May 9, 2023
As we’ve reported, Abbott’s frustration grew over time as President Biden’s disastrous border policies took a tremendous toll on Texas towns and cities, so he did what any right-minded person would do—he bused the migrants to places where they’d be welcomed, places like Chicago, New York, and Washington D.C., “sanctuary cities” all.
Of course, officials in all those cities wailed like hungry babies and criticized Abbott’s inhumanity at the top of their lungs.
You see, they support Biden and his immigration policies, they just don’t want the problem in their backyard. Let Texas and Arizona deal with it. Here’s the mayor in January slamming Abbott:
I just heard Paul Vallas say that we should not call out racist, xenophobic practices of governors like Greg Abbott who are treating migrants like freight.
That’s not my idea of a welcoming city. It's not the idea of people who understand we've got to live our values daily.
— Lori Lightfoot (@LoriLightfoot) January 20, 2023
Now it’s Chicago that’s treating migrants like freight.
The emergency declaration signed by Lightfoot states that Chicago’s resources are “now stretched to the breaking point,” adding that hundreds of migrants are temporarily “sheltering in police stations”…
Video obtained by Fox News’ Matt Finn shows what appears to be migrant families taking shelter inside Chicago’s 19th police district. Migrants appear to be sleeping on the floor without proper access to showers or bathrooms.
Texas has been overwhelmed for years, but Lightfoot never cared about that. As RedState‘s Sister Toldjah reported, Abbott explained his reasoning for sending the illegals to sanctuary cities in August:
“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. “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 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.”
With Title 42 expected to expire May 11, the waves of illegals are only going to intensify—reports are that 10,000 are already ready to cross as soon as the measure is no longer in effect. New York Mayor Eric Adams, Chicago’s outgoing Lori Lightfoot, Washington D.C.’s Muriel Bowser, the residents of Martha’s Vineyard, and most of all, Joe Biden, need to stop pretending that the border is not a massive crisis. In the meantime, they need to stop crying about it and do their fair share.
More from the border:
Human Tsunami Expected at Border When Title 42 Expires, 10,000 Reportedly Set to Cross Day 1
Outgoing Chicago Mayor Lightfoot Waxes Hypocritical at Texas Gov. Abbott About ‘Dangerous’ Illegals
What Abbott and DeSantis Did Was Right in Today’s Political Battlefield
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