Several Chicago suburbs are moving to pass policies that would restrict buses seeking to drop off migrants unannounced in their communities as Texas continues to send thousands of undocumented immigrants to the area.
The proposed policies would require bus operators to seek approval before they unload people. Chicago, which has been struggling to house the busloads of people who have arrived over the last year, had established protocols for drop-offs that resulted in some bus companies’ leaving migrants in suburbs outside the city, instead.
At least four of those communities are taking up the issue at meetings Tuesday evening.
“Mayors are looking at this for the same reason the city of Chicago did, which is that the chaotic nature of having buses just coming in and dropping people off at a train station or some other place within the city is not a good solution,” said Michael Turner, the mayor of Woodstock.
On Saturday, a bus dropped off about 35 migrants headed for Chicago at a train station in Woodstock, a community of about 25,000 that is around 50 miles from Chicago, Turner said.
“Bus companies apparently are looking for other places to drop these people off, and that just adds to the disorganization and the chaos of the situation,” he said. “It’s not something we as a city can manage.”
The Woodstock City Council will vote Tuesday on a proposed ordinance that would prohibit transporting large groups without coordination with the city and an application. As part of the application process, “the applicant must state individuals who will be responsible for the care of the people being dropped off, along with giving the City time to verify an applicant’s ability to care for them,” according to a meeting agenda packet on the city’s website. Violating the ordinance would lead to a $10,000 fine in addition to $750 per passenger.
While the 35 migrants dropped off in Woodstock on Saturday already had train tickets to Chicago and a guide, Turner…
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