Texas sends migrants by private plane to Chicago

Chicago officials say that for the first time, the Texas Division of Emergency Management has sent a private chartered plane carrying asylum-seekers to O’Hare Airport.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office confirmed the state is responsible for the flight that departed from El Paso, and said more than 120 passengers were on board. A spokesman for Abbott said the state was “expanding our operation” to include sending migrants by plane to Chicago, in addition to the hundreds of buses they’ve already used to transport migrants to the city since last year.

“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,” Abbott press secretary Andrew Mahaleris said in a statement.

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Chicago police received a call about 7:15 p.m. Tuesday about the flight’s arrival, and two people who flew with the plane reportedly fled in an Uber before police arrived, according to a city statement. The Office of Emergency Management and the Chicago Police Department referred questions to the mayor’s office.

Abbott’s office declined to answer how the flight was paid for and whether state funds were used, and said migrants signed consent waivers “available in multiple languages upon boarding.” The news of the plane’s arrival was first reported by WTTW.

The move is Texas’ latest escalation in its efforts to transport thousands of asylum-seekers from cities along the U.S.-Mexico border to sanctuary cities led by Democrats, like Chicago. Since August last year, more than 600 buses have arrived in Chicago from Texas cities including Brownsville, Del Rio, El Paso, Laredo and McAllen.

More than 26,000 people have arrived on buses from Texas, with another 4,252 people arriving via plane since June, according to city data.

The city has begun to crack down on buses bringing migrants to the city, while it imposes a 60-day limit on migrants’ shelter stays and increases staff to help them reach their final destination.

In an effort to regulate where and when buses drop off migrants, the City Council passed new rules that also give officials the ability to tow and impound buses, in addition to imposing $3,000 fines and charging for storage and towing fees. The first bus impounded under the enhanced rules last week came from Eagle Pass, Texas, and tried to drop off 49 passengers at the city’s designated landing zone for new arrivals without a permit.

But the rules have also led to a breakdown in communication from Texas officials, Johnson’s administration has said, with bus companies attempting to drop people off in nearby suburbs to skirt the enhanced regulations.

The city has filed 26 complaints against bus companies as of Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Chicago’s Law Department said. Another five buses transporting migrants were expected to arrive Wednesday.

The city has struggled to provide shelter for the more than 26,100 migrants who have arrived since August last year. After briefly clearing police stations from housing migrants over the weekend, more were back Monday morning. As of Wednesday, 14,094 migrants were housed across 27 city shelters, with another 18 in police stations and 296 at O’Hare Airport waiting for a spot.

The death of a 5-year-old boy living in a Pilsen migrant shelter, and the hospitalization of several residents at the same facility, has placed renewed scrutiny on shelter conditions and medical care provided. Earlier this week, Johnson placed the blame on Abbott for putting “families on buses without shoes, cold, wet, tired, hungry, afraid, traumatized” that was leading to migrants “showing up sick.”

Abbott’s office indicated it would not stop its practice of sending migrants to Chicago any time soon.

Tessa Weinberg covers city government and politics for WBEZ.