A Texas transportation company is taking the nation’s third largest city to federal court, ratcheting up a legal battle over the migrant crisis that’s left U.S. cities struggling
A Texas transportation company is taking the nation’s third largest city to federal court, ratcheting up a legal battle over the migrant crisis that’s left U.S. cities struggling for more than a year.
The lawsuit against Chicago comes amid a larger political battle involving federal immigration policy and arguments about the rights and treatment of asylum seekers.
Since 2022, Texas has sent more than 100,000 migrants to Democrat-led “sanctuary cities,” as it has handled surging numbers at the Mexico-U.S. border in recent years. The state has contracts with multiple bus companies to send asylum seekers north and recently began chartering planes.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he launched his busing operation to ease the burden on border cities, adding that the federal government needs to take action on immigration reform. He argues that migrants choose their destinations, get free tickets and the cities should live up to their promise of welcoming all.
But the influx has overwhelmed major U.S. cities, namely Chicago, New York and Denver, with mayors making their own pleas for federal help. They call Abbott’s approach inhumane with buses arriving at all hours and with no passenger lists or coordination, particularly for people who have already faced long, often dangerous, journeys to get to the U.S. Many migrants, mostly from Venezuela, have been arriving in the brutal cold without winter coats.
There are countless unhoused folks living in freezing cities up north who might enjoy free transportation to warmer destinations.
Many of these people already don’t have access to the mental health treatment they need. But at least moving to a warmer climate would improve survival rates and overall comfort. (If they actually want the free tickets, of course.)
I mean that’s something that’s been happening for decades in New York City. They regularly provide bus tickets to California/Florida as a means of reducing their homeless population.
Both options are pretty awful methods of dealing with vulnerable populations.
Yes, because obviously the solution to homeless people in their home state with extreme weather, is to dump them on the street in a state with better weather.
Instead of, you know, figuring out how to take care of these folks where they have lived for most of their lives.
Hey that asshole governor is using vulnerable people as pawns. Wait we have vulnerable people too.
I think there is an old adage about 2 wrongs that fits this pretty well.
Unfortunately this is all political theater and we can’t get the right people to come to the table to fix the problem.