More migrants from Texas arrive in Chicago, the fourth group of buses in less than two weeks

Nearly 100 more migrants arrived from Texas on Friday in buses at Union Station, making it the fourth round of asylum-seekers sent to Chicago by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in less than two weeks as a way to criticize the nation’s immigration policies.

The group of mostly men — with a handful of women and children — from Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela arrived about 4:15 p.m. and disembarked from the two buses before lining up to board two CTA buses that had been waiting hours for them.

The migrants carried only small possessions in clear plastic bags as they made their way from bus to bus. Some smiled and waved. Others rushed to the buses, where Erendira Rendon, vice president of immigrant justice at The Resurrection Project, welcomed them and told them in Spanish where they were being taken and the options they have.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office said the group was being taken to a religious organization for intake.

After Elvin Antonio Gomez stepped off the bus, he took out a piece of paper and showed it to police and other people standing outside Union Station asking in Spanish if they could help him to go to the location written on it.

“Un amigo mio me va arecibir ahí,” he said, eager to continue his journey. “My friend is waiting for me there.”

That same friend had gotten a plane ticket to northern Wisconsin, for Gomez and for another man who was also coming from Nicaragua, Gomez said.

Rendon later told the Tribune that the two men were transported to the airport after arriving at church where the group was welcomed.

Friday’s busloads are the fourth arrival of migrants from Texas in 10 days. The first group arrived at Union Station on Aug. 31 in two buses carrying approximately 75 people seeking asylum. Another bus of migrants arrived in Chicago over the holiday weekend with more than 50 people looking for new beginnings. And more than 150 asylum-seekers arrived in three more buses on Wednesday afternoon.

The migrants have been transported to Chicago from Texas as part of Abbott’s plans to send the migrants to sanctuary cities, including Washington and New York City, in response to President Joe Biden’s immigration policies.

On Friday, U.S. Reps. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, of Chicago, and Adriano Espaillat, of New York, and Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District of Columbia’s nonvoting House delegate — all Democrats representing the cities to which Abbot is sending the migrants — sent a letter to the U.S. House requesting $50 million more in humanitarian assistance for the migrants.

“Playing politics with the lives of these immigrants is dehumanizing and cruel, but not unexpected from the xenophobic, fearmongering politics of Gov. Abbot,” Garcia said in a statement. “While Chicago remains committed to welcoming these new arrivals, we must ensure their food, shelter and other basic needs are covered.”

Garcia also criticized the flawed immigration system that has caused the crisis and said the arrival of these migrants at the border “underscores the urgent need to address the root causes of migration and how U.S. policies have contributed to the problem. In the meantime, we must focus on assisting the women, men and children as they arrive in our cities.”

On Wednesday, 64 migrants were temporally placed in a hotel in southwest suburban Burr Ridge, according to a statement from Mayor Gary Grasso. Village officials and staff were not consulted or contacted about the decision to move the migrants from the Salvation Army Shield of Hope shelter to the village, the statement said.

Grasso told the Tribune on Friday that he was “blindsided” by the migrants’ arrival.

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“I’m not a believer in sanctuary cities, I don’t think my community is in favor of it, some might be but I think most aren’t,” he said.

At Union Station on Friday, Yenilsa Santos said that she and her 28-year-old son had arrived in Chicago from Venezuela. They were hoping to go to New York where family can host them.

“But there was no other option,” she said, “now we have to find a way to get there.”

Yorge Medina got off one of the buses and took a picture to send to his family.

“They told me that this way they’ll know where to come to find me and take me home,” he said as he sent the photos. Though he was able to tell them that he was arriving Friday, he couldn’t tell them where or what time.

He finally found a message with the address of his family in Des Plaines and learned that it would take them about an hour to get downtown. Either way, Medina, who emigrated from Cuba, said he was glad to be a step closer to his new home.

Chicago Tribune’s Zareen Syed contributed.