Migrant buses from Texas left asylum seekers stranded in 3 suburbs

PEOTONE, Ill. - Migrant buses arriving from Texas are now leaving asylum seekers stranded in the suburbs after Chicago announced harsher penalties for bus companies who fail to follow the city's guidelines.

Three incidents alone were reported Thursday – and in two of those cases, migrants were found walking along local highways seeking assistance.

Illinois State Police confirmed that troopers responded to IL Route 50 in Peotone around 8:30 a.m. Thursday, where about a dozen migrants were walking in the roadway. They had been dropped off with no direction on where to go. 

Will County Emergency Management officials transported them to the City of Chicago's landing zone, which is located near Desplaines and Taylor streets on the Near West Side. There, all migrants need to be registered with Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC) when arriving from Texas.

Earlier this week, city officials said many bus drivers have tried to skirt the law by taking new arrivals to suburbs without notifying those cities. In response, Mayor Brandon Johnson said they are implementing harsher penalties, including fines and impoundment for disregarding the city’s guidelines.

In addition to Peotone, Kankakee officials reported that upwards of 40 migrants were brought to a truck stop there. Once they arrived on Thursday morning, their bus driver told them they were in Chicago and left them to fend for themselves, according to the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office.

"The bus arrived at the truck stop around 4:30 in the morning," said Kankakee County Sheriff Michael Downey. "One of the migrants asked us, asked our interpreter, where they were, they didn’t know they were in Kankakee."

With no direction, and no money, food, or winter clothing, Downey says they found several migrants wrapped in blankets walking along I-57. This, after their bus driver left them at Love’s Travel Stop.

"Regardless of who they are, where individuals live or where they come from, it is our responsibility as first responders to keep them safe, period," said Downey.

First responders helped them to safety and in a coordinated effort, transported them to Midway Airport to be met by OEMC officials.

In response and to prepare for future incidents, the County of Kankakee has filed an Emergency Declaration with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.

In Lockport, a viewer shared cellphone video with FOX 32 that showed migrants boarding park district buses Thursday evening to be brought to Chicago for check-in. 

According to the Lockport Police Department, about 30 new arrivals were left at the Lockport Metra Station. They relayed to officers that the bus they were on had come from El Paso, Texas. They also informed police that they were given prepackaged meals they described as military food.

Meanwhile, in Aurora, a special meeting was held Friday to put measures into place that prohibit buses from making unscheduled stops. The approved ordinance requires bus companies to notify the City of Aurora at least five days prior to their arrival.

"We simply cannot have a situation as exists where buses drop off at the side of the road, which includes families and children, with only what they can carry on their persons, and with no protection against the winter weather, and no further direction on where to go and what to do," said Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin. "To allow this situation to continue is unacceptable and contrary to the city's values of treating all people, regardless of their origin, with dignity, respect, and care. To do nothing would be irresponsible."

Irvin says that is exactly what they experienced earlier this week, when buses from the southern border avoided Chicago and left migrants in downtown Aurora. 

He said their city will welcome anyone with open arms, but proper protocol needs to be followed. 

"What we can do is hold responsible those that are irresponsibly and inhumanely dropping migrants off here in the City of Aurora without provisions and care that they need, to be treated with the basic human dignity that all human beings should be treated with," said Irvin.

On Friday, New Lenox Mayor Tim Baldermann signed an executive order restricting buses from making unscheduled visits there.

Similarly, earlier this week, Tinley Park approved a set of ordinances to discourage rogue buses.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has started to impound buses that come to Chicago without following the rules. In response, Texas Governor Greg Abbott charted a private plane and flew migrants to O'Hare on Tuesday.