Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who suffered an embarrassing first-round primary defeat, faced another crushing blow when she attempted to attack Texas Governor Greg Abbott on immigration.
Lightfoot sent a letter to Abbott to dissuade him from bussing more migrants from Texas to Chicago, calling it “inhumane and dangerous”.
“Chicago is a Welcoming City and we collaborate with County, State, and community partners to rise to this challenge, but your lack of consideration or coordination in an attempt to cause chaos and score political points has resulted in a critical tipping point in our ability to receive individuals and families in a safe, orderly, and dignified way,” Lightfoot wrote in the letter.
She said that Chicago has “no more shelters, spaces, or resources” while stating the city had taken in over 8,000 immigrants since August 2022.
However, Abbott quickly hit back, responding in a letter of his own that pointed out the government’s own report estimates 13,000 immigrants per day could cross the border after Title 42 expulsions end on May 11th.
“As the mayor of a self-declared sanctuary city, it is ironic to hear you complain about Chicago’s struggle to deal with a few thousand illegal immigrants, which is a fraction of the record-high numbers we deal with in Texas on a regular basis,” Abbott responded.
“If you truly want to ‘work together to find a real solution’ to this border crisis gripping our nation, you must call on the Biden Administration to do its job by securing our border, repelling the illegal immigrants flooding into our communities, classifying the Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and intercepting the deadly fentanyl that is endangering our country,” he continued.
Lightfoot dodged Abbott’s broader points and instead posted his letter in a tweet criticizing him for using the term “illegal immigrants” to refer to those seeking asylum.
“Here’s the response from the politician who continues to race to the bottom to score political points with no regard for the human lives involved or the consequences,” she tweeted. “And to be clear asylum seekers paroled into the U.S. are not ‘illegal immigrants.’ Shameful but sadly expected.”
As “immigrants” they have the right to live any place in the U.S., so why wouldn’t they prefer a “sanctuary” city?