CHICAGO — Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Sunday sent a letter to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott urging him to stop busing migrants to her city. The letter comes a little more than a week out from the expiration of the pandemic-era Title 42 policy.

What You Need To Know

  • Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Sunday sent a letter to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pleading with him not to bus any more migrants to her city

  • Lightfoot said Chicago has so far cared for more than 8,000 migrants who arrived without any resources, many of whom required medical attention

  • The letter comes just ahead of the May 11 expiration of the pandemic-era Title 42 border policy. That policy has been used millions of times to expel migrants from the U.S.

  • It is anticipated the expiration of Title 42 will prompt a surge of migrant border crossings. Gov. Abbott, as of Monday, had not publicly responded to Lightfoot's letter 

Chicago Deputy Director of Communications Ryan Johnson said in a tweet that they “are aware that Texas is planning to resume bussing individuals and families to cities including Chicago.”

“I am, yet again, appealing to your better nature and asking you to stop this inhumane and dangerous action,” Lightfoot wrote. “Since we began responding to the arrival of migrants sent by your delegation in August 2022, we have shouldered the responsibility of caring for more than 8,000 men, women, and children with no resources of their own.”

Abbott has bused immigrants to Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C. — all of which have Democratic mayors. In September 2022, he suggested more would be arriving, saying that Chicago has become a drop-off location as a solution to what he called Biden’s “open border policies overwhelming border communities in Texas.”

“Nearly all of the migrants have been in dire need of food, water, and clothing and many needed extensive medical care,” Lightfoot’s letter continues. “Some of the individuals you placed on buses were women in active labor, and some were victims of sexual assault. None of these urgent needs were addressed in Texas.”

Title 42 is slated to expire on May 11. It’s anticipated that the expiration will prompt thousands of migrants per day to cross the border from Mexico into the U.S. El Paso, Texas, on Monday declared a state of emergency in order to free up resources to deal with the expected migrant surge.

“I know by your actions that you either do not see or do not care about the trauma these migrants have already faced and continue to suffer under the humanitarian crisis you have created,” Lightfoot continued. “But I beseech you anyway: treat these individuals with the respect and dignity that they deserve. To tell them to go to Chicago or to inhumanly bus them here is an inviable and misleading choice.”

As of Monday morning, Abbott had not publicly responded to Lightfoot’s letter.

“Though I am sympathetic to the significant challenges that border cities face, this situation is completely untenable. The national immigration problem will not be solved by passing on the responsibility to other cities,” Lightfoot wrote.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.