Immigrants from the southern border have entered Chicago through a new method of transportation over the last week, using transit trains to go to the city after buses dropped them off in a suburb.
Two busloads of immigrants were dropped off in Naperville at the downtown Metra station since last Thursday, according to city spokeswoman Linda LaCloche via the Chicago Tribune. LaCloche did not specify how many immigrants arrived in the city or where the buses had arrived from, but she said they headed for Chicago on the train immediately after they were dropped off in Naperville.
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“We did not receive any prior notification of this and became aware after it happened,” LaCloche said in an email to the Naperville Sun. “We continue to monitor this ever-changing situation.”
Naperville is the latest suburban city to receive immigrants as the influx from the southern border continues to affect several Democratic-run states, such as Illinois and New York. Since August 2022, more than 26,000 immigrants have been bused to Chicago, most of them legally.
Chicago still accepts buses of immigrants but has recently started to restrict when and where arrivals can take place. Buses must drop off during approved weekday hours, and the city designated a specific migrant drop-off zone in Chicago’s West Loop, with arrivals limited to two per hour. The city is suing bus companies and approved penalties on Dec. 13 to impound buses and fine owners $3,000 if they don’t follow Chicago’s rules limiting the time and frequency of arrivals.
Since the Windy City began installing these penalties, Chicago officials have said bus drivers are beginning to head into the suburbs and drop immigrants at unauthorized places to work around the restrictions.
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Several suburbs are rejecting busloads of immigrants, threatening to fine or impound buses if they drop off homeless immigrants. Villages of Schaumburg and Elk Grove Village have passed ordinances preventing illegal immigrants from being housed in hotels. Oak Park originally paid to house immigrants in hotels, approving $1 million in aid using funds from a state grant and federal COVID-19 recovery funds. However, the village is now evicting 150 immigrants living in the town’s hotel and YMCA.
The state of Illinois recently opened up hotel rooms to house nearly 200 immigrants as Chicago bears the brunt of the immigration crisis. The Illinois Department of Human Services is working with Chicago officials to identify hotel spaces, and the city will be providing transportation.
