May 1 (UPI) -- Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is urging Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to not follow through with his "inhuman and dangerous" plan to send more migrants and asylum seekers from his southern state to her city.
The outgoing Chicago mayor made her appeal to the Republican governor in a letter Sunday, stating that they are aware Texas is planning as soon as Monday to start sending migrants to Democrat-led cities including Chicago.
"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.
"We simply have no more shelters, spaces or resources to accommodate an increase of individuals at this level, with little coordination or care, that does not pose a risk to them or others."
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In protest of the Biden administration's border policies, Abbott has been busing migrants and asylum seekers from his state to the Democratic-led sanctuary of Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., since last year, attracting the condemnation of human rights advocates and President Joe Biden.
The first bus to Chicago dropped migrants off at Union Station on the night of Aug. 31, 2022. Since then, more than 8,000 people, including children, have been sent without resources to Chicago, some while in active labor.
"I know by your actions that you either do not see or do not care about the trauma these migrants have already faced and continue to suffer under the humanitarian crisis you have created," Lightfoot wrote Sunday. "But I beseech you anyway: treat these individuals with the respect and dignity that they deserve.
"To tell them to go to Chicago or to inhumanely bus them here is an inviable and misleading choice."
She warned Abbott that if chartered busses do arrive in Chicago, she will call on the Biden administration to withhold all Federal Emergency Management Agency funds earmarked for Texas.
"I would rather work with you than against you," Lightfoot said.
Lightfoot is to leave office in about two weeks as Brandon Johnson is set to take over the city's helm after being elected mayor early last month.
