After more than 60 migrants were shipped to his town and dropped off at a local hotel, the Republican mayor of a Chicago suburb called out Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
After being bussed from Texas, 147 migrants arrived in Chicago on Wednesday, according to FOX 32. Then 64 of them were taken to the Hampton Inn in Burr Ridge, Illinois, outside of Chicago, where they will stay for the next 27 days.
Illinois Mayor Blasts Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot
Republican Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso claimed on Fox News that Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker are using the migrants as “political pawns.”
“As is my understanding, this hotel, about a year ago, when refugees came in from Afghanistan, apparently accepted several either through faith-based or charitable organizations, but now the state assumes they can just send migrants… this isn’t about them, the migrants are fine, they’re being used as political pawns by the governor and mayor,” Grasso said.
Grasso also claimed that Lightfoot’s complaints about Texas Governor Greg Abbott‘s decision to send migrants to Chicago were hypocritical because Abbott ultimately “sent [the migrants] out to” Chicago’s suburbs.
“We’re more than happy for people to find freedom, it is hypocrisy by the mayor of Chicago to complain about the governor of Texas – I do agree with what he’s doing – the city of Chicago says it’s going to be a sanctuary city which I oppose – but there must be vacant hotel rooms in Chicago. This is hundreds of people in a city of millions. Why are they sending them out to the Republican suburbs? You have to wonder,” Grasso said.
It “does not give carte blanche to the governor or the mayor to send a couple of bus loads of migrants to our village without telling us,” he said, referring to the possibility that the Hampton Inn in question had previously housed Afghan refugees.
The Burr Ridge Hampton Inn has booked at least 30 nights for the migrants brought there.
“The border situation on the southern border differs from Afghan refugees. It’s total arrogance for the state to assume they can send migrants to the suburbs around Chicago,” Grasso said.
An official from Burr Ridge said that the migrants first stayed at the Salvation Army Shield of Hope in Chicago before moving to the Hampton Inn.
A statement from the Illinois Department of Human Services is quoted in the article as saying the following about the migrants: “receiving temporary shelter in urban and suburban hotels that have provided refuge for vulnerable families from Afghanistan and other parts of the world. We are grateful for their hospitality and care from individuals and organizations across Illinois.”
“We will continue taking action to ensure everyone in Illinois has access to shelter, food, healthcare, and other basic, essential supports,” reads the statement. “We anticipate that the State of Texas will continue to bus migrants to Illinois, and we remain committed to helping welcome new arrivals in a responsible, orderly, and compassionate way.”
Lightfoot has been harsh on Abbott, saying he has “no morals, humanity, or shame.”
BREAKING: Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot plans to build a wall around the city to prevent Gov. Greg Abbott from shipping migrants there.
“Sorry, but we can’t have all these people coming into our city and sapping our resources. They gotta go somewhere else,” she told reporters. pic.twitter.com/21jIwYdcsd
— Jeff Charles, Everyone’s Favorite Extremist (@JeffOnTheRight) September 9, 2022
At a press conference on September 1, Lightfoot said, “Let me say loud and clear to Greg Abbott and his enablers in Texas with these continued political stunts, Gov. Abbott has confirmed what unfortunately many of us had known already, that he is a man without any morals, humanity, or shame.”
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