CHICAGO — The city’s Deputy Mayor of Immigrant, Migrant, and Refugee Rights on Tuesday said officials are no longer expecting bus loads of migrants from the southern border ahead of the Democratic National Convention.
“We are not expecting 25,000 migrants or any other very large influx of migrants. The governor has certainly threatened to do that, and to send people here. There’s lots of speculation and concern about it,” Beatriz Ponce de Leon said on WGN Radio’s The Lisa Dent Show, referring to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Abbott at the Republican National Convention told attendees the bussing of people who crossed the southern border to other cities would continue “until we finally secure our border.”
Ponce de Leon called Abbott’s comments a “political stunt.”
At a meeting of the city council’s Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights last month, she said officials were preparing for an influx of migrants, putting the number “upwards of 25,000.”
As of Monday, Chicago has welcomed 45,881 migrants aboard nearly 950 buses to the city since August 2022. There were 5,567 people in 17 active shelters run by the city and state on Monday, according to a statement from the city.
The Democratic National Convention begins Aug. 19.