Texas Begins Migrant Relocation Flights to Chicago

Texas Governor Greg Abbott stepped up the process of moving migrants out of the state to sanctuary cities by starting migrant flights to Chicago. The escalation follows actions by the Chicago mayor to interfere with migrant buses sent from the Lone Star State.

A chartered jet flew 120 immigrants from El Paso to Chicago on Tuesday, Governor Abbott revealed in a post on X. “Sanctuary city Chicago started obstructing and targeting our busing mission,” the governor stated.

Sanctuary city Chicago started obstructing and targeting our busing mission.

Texas will now expand our operation to include flights to Chicago.

Until Biden steps up to secure the border, we will continue to provide overwhelmed Texas border towns with much-needed relief. pic.twitter.com/kRoK8KBpJ2

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) December 20, 2023

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson implemented a new city ordinance targeting migrant transportation buses dropping off without a permit or outside of approved hours and locations, WTTW reported. The ordinance includes a fine and the authority to impound or tow buses.

The Chicago mayor told the Chicago PBS station that Governor Abbott was determined to “create chaos throughout the entire country.”

The Chicago mayor’s comments turn a blind eye to the chaos of the Biden administration’s border security and immigration policies that created record-setting illegal border crossings into Texas and Arizona.

“Because Mayor Johnson is failing to live up to his city’s ‘Welcoming City’ ordinance by targeting migrant buses from Texas, we are expanding our operation to include flights to Chicago, like the Biden Administration has been doing across the country,” Press Secretary Andrew Mahaleris said in a statement. “Governor Abbott launched the border bus mission in April 2022 to provide support to our overrun and overwhelmed border communities as the Biden Administration leaves thousands of migrants in their towns.”

“Until President Biden steps up and does his job to secure the border, Texas will continue taking historic action to help our local partners respond to this Biden-made crisis,” Mahaleris added.

Texas began busing migrants to Chicago in August 2022, Breitbart Texas reported. As of December 15, Abbott’s busing program delivered more than 23,800 migrants to the Windy City, Texas Division of Emergency Management spokesman Seth Christiansen told Breitbart.

The White House commented on the new Texas strategy, saying, ” Yet again, Governor Abbott is showing how little regard or respect he has for human beings.”

“Governor Abbott leaves migrants on the side of the road in the dead of winter,” White House spokesman Angelo Fernández Hernández added.

The comments stand in stark contrast to the chaotic and inhumane treatment of migrants by the federal government along the southern border — a direct result of Biden administration policies.

Currently, migrants in the Del Rio (Texas) and Tucson (Arizona) Sectors are being camped outdoors in winter conditions along the border as detention and processing centers are packed at more than 250 percent of capacity, sources told Breitbart.

Sanctuary city mayors previously claimed Abbott’s migrant busing policies were inhumane and racist. However, Texas officials told Breitbart that all of the migrants chose their destination cities and voluntarily signed agreements for free transportation.

The busing of more than 80,000 migrants from Texas to New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Denver, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles pales in comparison to the millions of migrants released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection into Texas border towns and transported via NGO’s in cities across the nation.

At the Tucson International Airport, the Biden administration’s TSA set up a special screening line for “Non-U.S. Citizens without Passports.” Breitbart reported. Migrants carrying a laser jet-printed Notice to Appear and no other photo I.D. are allowed to clear the security line.

During the first 15 days of December, approximately 121,000 migrants were apprehended along the southwest border, Breitbart reported. According to unofficial Border Patrol reports reviewed by Breitbart Texas, this brought the Fiscal Year 24 numbers to approximately 504,000. An additional 70,000 migrants are listed as known got-aways.