Third group of migrants settling in after arrival from Texas, Chicago officials say

A group of more than 100 migrants arrived in Chicago Wednesday afternoon from the Texas border, city officials confirmed.

The two buses carrying 103 people were the third group to arrive in the last week to Chicago’s Union Station. One week ago Wednesday the first group arrived, while a second wave rolled in by bus on Sunday.

City staff and volunteers explained to the migrants where they were and where they would go next, said Erendira Rendon, vice president of Immigrant Justice at The Resurrection Project.

As of about 4:45 p.m. Wednesday, migrants had pulled up at the Salvation Army Freedom Center in the city’s Humboldt Park neighborhood, where they would be processed and be offered to see a doctor with the Cook County Health Department if they need it, Rendon said.

People would also have the chance to shower, eat and rest before members with a Catholic charity organization meet with them Thursday to figure out if people want to go to a different city and provide assistance to get them there, Rendon said.

Ryan Johnson, spokesperson with the mayor’s office, confirmed 103 migrants got to town Wednesday and added that city officials continue to expect arrivals on a rolling basis.

“In partnership with our colleagues from local community-based organizations, Cook County, and the State of Illinois, we are providing these individuals and families with emergency shelter and connection to needed services,” Johnson said in a statement.

“We will continue to live out our values as a welcoming city and respond accordingly.”

At an unrelated news conference Tuesday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot commented on the situation and said she considered the communication and collaboration with “our federal partners” and “folks in the White House” regular and “quite good” when asked by the Tribune if there had been any talks going on.

The dialogue and collaboration has not been as open with Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, who the mayor said does not want to cooperate.

“I’d love to have a conversation with Gov. Abbott, I have a long list of things on my agenda, but I’ve been speaking, obviously, to him publicly about let’s just treat each other with respect,” Lightfoot said at the earlier news conference.

“There’s a way to do it. It’s real simple: Pick up the phone, send me an email, work through third parties. I’d love to see that,” Lightfoot said.

“Because that to me would show that he’s importantly, that he’s regarding these folks as human beings who are deserving of respect and dignity and not treating them just like freight to be shipped across the country.”

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Chicago Tribune’s A.D. Quig contributed.