A Texas-based bus company is suing Chicago, alleging discrimination in a city ordinance that controls where buses can and can’t drop off passengers.
Wynne Transportation, which has brought migrants from Texas to Chicago, filed lawsuit in federal court in Chicago. The company says the city’s rules interfere with interstate commerce.
The mayor’s office said the city doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
The city ordinance seeks to govern how and where buses can stand. Violators risk a $3,000 fine or impoundment of the vehicle.
“No owner or operator of any intercity bus shall use any designated bus stop, bus stand or passenger loading/unloading zone, or any other location, for loading or unloading of passengers, luggage or other goods without first obtaining the approval of the Commissioner,” the ordinance reads.
The city wants migrants dropped of at a “landing zone” at 800 S. Des Plaines St. — near the site of the Maxwell Street market. New arrivals are then to be moved to shelters or police stations.
The city’s new rules set off a chain reaction in the suburbs. Dozens of towns, especially ones with Metra train stations, passed rules barring chartered buses from making unannounced stops to unload passengers.
A meeting of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus set for Tuesday was canceled because of the snowstorm and frigid temperatures that swept the area. The meeting at the United Center was to bring together leaders representing Chicago and towns in Cook County and the five collar counties to discuss the current state of receiving and housing new migrants.
Roughly 14,500 migrants are in 28 shelters across the city awaiting housing, though no buses have arrived in the city in several days after Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s pleas to halt buses during dangerously cold weather. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said last week more than 100,000 migrants would be sent to sanctuary cities across the country, including more than 30,000 to Chicago.
In the lawsuit, Wynne Transportation alleges the ordinance punishes companies working with the state of Texas, prohibits cross-country travel and discriminates against unscheduled stops carrying migrants.
The company also alleges the ordinance carries out “intentional discrimination” against the passengers of the buses, claiming the traffic rules specifically target migrant charter buses.
