Chicago activist commends Texas’ handling of migrants as Windy City struggles: ‘Democrats have failed’
Chicago activist Zerlina Smith-Members joined Americas Newsroom to discuss how she believes the migrant crisis could impact voting trends in Illinois as the city battles an unprecedented surge.
Democratic governors and mayors have been reportedly fighting among themselves over sending migrants back and forth from their cities.
A report from the Chicago Sun Times on Thursday spoke with multiple figures regarding the ongoing migrant crisis plaguing major cities like Chicago, Denver and New York City.
Democratic leaders have frequently attacked Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for bussing migrants into sanctuary states and cities. However, the report suggested Democrats are frustrated with one another, particularly between the Illinois and Colorado governors.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker reportedly called out Colorado Gov. Polis for sending migrants from Denver to Chicago. (Getty Images)
"The Illinois governor [J.B. Pritzker ] said that, in the meantime, migrants were being sent to Denver, which was then sending them to Chicago, which Pritzker called ‘unhelpful.’ He said Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis told him, ‘We're not telling people to go to Chicago. They're just getting off the bus and saying they'd like to go to Chicago.’ I said, ‘Come on. That’s not the case. You know, you guys are buying tickets to Chicago.’ I said to him, ‘We can do the same thing back, and we're not going to. This is not how we should be operating,’" the report read.
CHICAGO DEMOCRAT GOES OFF ON CITY'S HANDLING OF MIGRANT CRISIS: 'IT'S AN INVASION'
Pritzker also appeared to criticize New York City Mayor Eric Adams, claiming many of the migrants in his state have been coming from Adams’ city.
"There’s actually a list that I handed to the mayor of Chicago since he is close to the mayors. I said, ‘Here's a list of how many people have been sent to Chicago. You should call each mayor, starting with the mayor of New York and tell them, 'You’ve got to stop doing that,'" Pritzker said.
Pritzker reportedly informed Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on the matter in January.
A group of migrants receives food outside the migrant landing zone during a winter storm on January 12, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
The Chicago Sun Times also spoke with former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, whose term ended when migrants started to be shipped to her city. She said, she and Mayor Adams reached out with a "cease and desist" message to Gov. Polis regarding migrants.
"He didn’t stop until we outed him in public," Lightfoot said. "We sent him a letter. We released it to the press, and then they decided, ‘Oh, I'm getting bad publicity.’ I mean, it was just, it was the crassest form of politics that I think I've experienced in quite a long time."
Pritzker noted that when the bussing of migrants first began in 2022, there was initially no concern.
"I did not regard it as a threat. Even when the first buses arrived, I just viewed it as a stunt and did not think this was going to be 40,000 people arriving. Because how would you know? And they certainly weren’t telling anybody," Pritzker said.
DENVER BECOMING OVERWHELMED AFTER 40,000 SPIKE IN MIGRANT POPULATION
By contrast, Lightfoot referred to the beginning of the crisis as an "ambush."
Colorado has been sending migrants to Chicago and New York City since 2023. (Boston Globe)
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"In those early days, we really didn't get much in the way of a heads-up. We didn’t know anything about numbers, who was on the manifest of these buses, what their situation was, who they were, what their countries of origin were, what, if any, medical needs. We really got next to no information. It was like an ambush. That's what it felt like," Lightfoot said.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Colorado and Illinois governors’ offices.