‘Community’s at the Brink of Collapse’ Due to Migrant Surge, We Need to Remain a Sanctuary City

On Monday’s “CNN News Central,” Chicago Alderman Byron Sigcho Lopez stated that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) sending migrants to the city and a lack of federal support means that “our whole community’s at the brink of collapse” and is “putting at risk the lives of new neighbors and also the safety of Chicagoans across the city.” But he’s glad the city is staying a sanctuary city.

Sigcho Lopez stated that the circumstances facing migrants are “really dire in communities like ours, we had the recent death of a five-year-old boy, Jean Carlos Martinez, because of the many, many conditions and the really poor conditions that are set for the new neighbors in our communities. We have to really congregate as many as in one of our shelters, 2,500 people, in a matter of weeks, because of the lack of support at the federal level and because of these tactics of human trafficking that are putting at risk the lives of new neighbors and also the safety of Chicagoans across the city. We’ve seen these inhumane practices also have cost the life of a three-year-old little girl only months ago in transit from Texas to Chicago. We’ve seen the conditions worsening, because of the tactics that continue to be worsening, now we see Gov. Abbott even sending people by plane, which is putting really — our community’s not only at risk, but it is really putting — our whole community’s at the brink of collapse. So, this is really an urgent call for the federal government to take leadership on the matter as we’re seeing a really desperate attempt to destabilize or harm our communities, immigrant communities that have suffered so much.”

He added that “We cannot negotiate our humanity. That is really at stake here. We have, unfortunately, Governors like Abbott, who do not see us as human beings. On the other hand, we have Mayors like Mayor Johnson, that [have] not only [stood] up for what’s right, but even protect[ed] our sanctuary status so that we protect human rights and collaborate in safety measures and collaborat[e] with anybody across the country that is willing to put solutions on the table.”