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In a recent letter, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has called on Texas Governor Greg Abbott to end the practice of busing migrants to the Midwest during severe winter conditions.
In his letter, Governor Pritzker expressed concern about the welfare of migrants, many of whom are arriving without adequate clothing for the freezing temperatures. He wrote, “Chicago’s temperatures this weekend are forecast to drop below zero, Your callousness, sending buses and planes full of migrants in this weather, is now life-threatening to every one of the arrivals. Hundreds of children’s and families’ health and survival are at risk due to your actions.”
This comes as the issue of transporting migrants has been a point of contention among various US leaders. New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who has had ongoing disputes with Abbott on this matter, criticized the Texas Governor for his actions, labeling them as “mean-spirited.” Adams added, “We reached out and tried to coordinate with just the mean-spiritedness of this governor who has, his intentionality of just placing people on buses, compelling them to leave the city.”
In response to these actions, Adams has taken legal measures, filing a lawsuit on January 4th against numerous charter companies that assisted in transporting migrants to New York City. The suit seeks compensation of $708 million to cover the costs incurred in caring for these individuals over the past 20 months.
Governor Abbott, however, defended his actions, arguing that each migrant transported to cities like New York voluntarily agreed to travel after being authorized by the Biden administration to remain in the US. He argued that Adams’s legal actions might infringe upon the constitutional rights of these migrants to travel within the country freely. Abbott further warned that continued legal action by Mayor Adams could result in legal repercussions for violating these constitutional rights.
