Lori Lightfoot pleads with Gov. Abbott to stop sending migrants to Chicago: 'Dangerous and inhumane'

Outgoing Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot sent a letter to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday requesting that he stop sending busloads of migrants to the Windy City over what she claims are political motivations.

Abbott started sending migrant buses to Chicago and other sanctuary cities, including New York City and Washington, D.C., in the fall as a response to the influx of migrant crossings at the southern border. The Republican governor has said the relocations will continue until the federal government secures the border.

Lightfoot, who lost her re-election bid earlier this year, wrote in her letter that Chicago officials learned Texas was planning to send additional migrants to sanctuary cities starting Monday, and urged Abbott to reconsider "this dangerous and inhumane action."

She said the city has been responsible for the care of more than 8,000 people who had no resources of their own since the first buses arrived from Texas in August – adding that the number continues to grow.

"Nearly all the migrants have been in dire need of food, water, and clothing and many needed extensive medical care," she wrote. "Some of the individuals you placed on buses were women in active labor, and some were victims of sexual assault. None of these urgent needs were addressed in Texas. Instead, these individuals and families were packed onto buses and shipped across the country like freight without regard to their personal circumstances."