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Maybe Migrants Should thank GOP Governors for Free Bus Rides

Clarence Page, Tribune Content Agency on

It’s ironic to see the best-laid plans of political men and women lead to unexpected consequences.

But it happens. Take, for example, the issue of immigration reform, Texas-style.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott put an extra 10-gallon hat full of irony into the issue when he decided to bus migrants into New York, Washington and, most recently, Chicago.

The Republican governor’s plan, meant as a crackdown on illegal immigration, actually created one of the most generously funded services to help migrants entering the country begin their resettlement: a free bus ride.

Since many of the migrants already had family or other contacts far from the border, the free transportation helped many to connect with relatives or friends who can make their transition into the U.S. that much smoother.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, picking up on Abbott’s idea, went upscale. He sent a couple of planes to Texas and gave about 50 migrants a flight to Martha’s Vineyard, the famous island getaway for the wealthy near Cape Cod.

 

Chicago’s not that wealthy — per capita, anyway — but it’s just as welcoming in other ways. Since the first of Abbott’s busloads arrived from Texas at the end of August, nearly 1,500 migrants have arrived in Chicago from Texas as of Tuesday, city officials said. Some were also taken in by suburbs.

Either way, not much of significance has changed about the real long-term problem, which is the country’s broken immigration system.

The only thing really new is the midterm election season, which offers politicians from both parties opportunities to stake out their usual positions along the Great Wall of Gridlock.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot welcomed the new immigrants to the state, while accusing the Republican governors of playing with desperate people’s lives.

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(c) 2022 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

 

 

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