Oak Brook officials taking proactive approach to possibilty of migrant buses from Texas affecting the village

Most likely because it doesn’t have a train station, Oak Brook has not yet been one of the many suburban drop-off spots for busloads of migrants being sent to the area from Texas by that state’s governor, Greg Abbott.

Even so, Oak Brook officials are taking a proactive approach in dealing with the situation, which for them has been most visible over the past two months with the arrests of 30 unlawful migrants for theft from retailers in the village.

“The shoplifting is a problem for us,” Village President Larry Herman said. “It puts an added burden on both our retail stores and police department. Thanks to Oak Brook’s proactive policing measures, there has been, and is, no immediate threat to public safety, which remains our top priority.”

Herman said village officials have contingency plans in place and are prepared to take any necessary and legal actions to implement permissible regulations to minimize the impact of illegal migration in Oak Brook. In the event of an occurrence in the village, officials are prepared to transfer any such migrants to a self-designated sanctuary city, Herman said.

Even with Chicago continuing to operate as a sanctuary city and accept arriving migrants, a challenge remains for impacted suburbs because Chicago recently adopted an ordinance outlining required procedures for buses transporting migrants into the city.

These parameters include advance notification, limiting hours of drop offs, setting a limit of two buses per hour, and consequences, such as bus impoundment for not observing the aforementioned regulations.

“As a direct result of the actions of the City of Chicago, the governor of Texas has redirected these drop offs to suburban train stations, without any advanced notice,” Herman said. “Thus far, we are aware of 72 such suburban bus drop offs totaling 2,988 migrant men, women, and children. Busloads of migrants are generally comprised of 30 to 50 individuals who, at drop off, are each provided a one-way train ticket to downtown Chicago. Furthermore, all Federal and State of Illinois migrant relief funding has been directed to the City of Chicago and not to the suburbs.”

Herman said Oak Brook staff remains in communication with the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference, whose members are working in conjunction with the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus to address the migrant issue, including coordination with the City of Chicago. Simultaneously, DuPage County is continuing to monitor and coordinate the migrant situation and allocate appropriate resources to this situation.

“We continue to monitor the migrant bus situation and are prepared to make any changes that may be necessary as the situation evolves,” Herman said.

Elmhurst, Downers Grove, Hinsdale, Westmont, and Villa Park are among nearby communities in which there have been drop offs of migrants, he said.

“In each case, these communities report no incidents, and we further understand that these migrants are ultimately looking to get to Chicago as expeditiously as possible for intake and access to resources,” Herman said.

He said several suburban home rule municipalities have responded to the dropping off of migrants by passing their own ordinances setting forth similar parameters. However, because Oak Brook is a non-home rule community, it is not able to pass such an ordinance, Herman said,

Hinsdale also is a non-home rule village, but its Village Board Tuesday Jan. 2 unanimously adopted an ordinance that asks for five days advance notice and completion of an application that, among other things, requires an explanation of how migrants will be cared for before a busload can be dropped off. Buses that violate the ordinance face seizure and impoundment, and a fee of $750.

“As the weather turns dangerously cold, migrant drop-offs unannounced in Hinsdale put in danger lives,” Hinsdale Village President Thomas Cauley said. Hinsdale has received a dozen buses since mid-December, according a Chicago Tribune story.

“The true underlying source of the problem that needs to be addressed is the responsibility of the Federal government and can no longer be ignored at the highest levels,” Herman said.

Chuck Fieldman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.