Fourth bus of migrants arrives from Texas, Sen. Dick Durbin visits Salvation Army center
CHICAGO (CBS) – Another group of migrants arrived in Chicago on a bus from Texas Friday night.
This was the fourth group that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has sent to the city as a way to protest federal immigration policies. The bus dropped them off at Union Station.
The last group of asylum seekers arrived Thursday.
Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) has a message for Gov. Abbott: stop being so cruel.
Durbin earlier Friday visited a Salvation Army center that has welcomed more than 228 migrants who were bused unannounced to Chicago from Texas in the last two weeks, as part of Abbott's ongoing protest of federal immigration policies.
Abbott has been sending thousands of migrants who arrive in Texas to sanctuary cities like Washington D.C., New York, and Chicago.
Mayor Lightfoot has said Abbott is not giving the city a heads-up about when migrants are heading to Chicago, making it difficult for the city to provide the necessary support to those refugees.
"I understand that he has no interest whatsoever in providing any kind of support to people that are coming to Texas," Mayor Lightfoot said Sunday, after the latest group of migrants arrived. "But then do the right thing and collaborate and cooperate, instead of us having to guess – are they coming? Are they not coming? How many? What are their needs?"
Durbin said this is a test of who we are as Americans.
"This is a question of our self-definition, telling the world who we are. The Texas governor is betting that we're going to be mean and cruel to these people. I'm betting just the opposite: that we are going to be caring, and thoughtful, and do things that reflect well on the United States of America," Durbin said.
The senator said he will be looking into federal programs to help pay the cost of caring for the migrants.
