Buses of migrants from Texas have arrived in New Trier Township over the past month, with some communities taking steps to regulate the unscheduled bus drop-offs.  

Since Dec. 25 and Dec. 31, 2023, Wilmette and Winnetka have received one and 11 buses, respectively. The arrival of buses in the Chicago suburbs followed a decision by Chicago on Dec. 8, 2023, which required unscheduled one-way buses to provide a five-day notice and approval from the city before arrival. 

Buses have come to the Chicago suburbs to avoid potential fines and impounding of vehicles imposed by the city’s decision. As buses come to the suburbs, two New Trier communities in the past two weeks – Winnetka on Jan. 9 and Glencoe on Jan. 18 – passed similar ordinances to regulate the process, requiring a five-day notice and specified drop-off times. 

Glencoe, which has not received any buses as of this article’s publication, passed its ordinance out of humanitarian concern for the migrants. 

“The intent behind this has been very much that the Village wants to advocate for the health, safety, and wellbeing of any bus passenger who may be in our community,” Glencoe Village Manager Philip Kiraly said.  

Kiraly said that without prior notice, the possibility of a train delay to take the migrants to Chicago could pose a threat to the migrants as they may not have the appropriate clothing for waiting in the cold weather, nor food or water. 

Winnetka Village President Christopher Rintz said that Winnetka passed the ordinance to ensure that bus companies and Winnetka have time to coordinate  the safe transportation of migrants. 

“We all can [then] be on the same page in helping these poor people find opportunities within the city,” Rintz said.  

Rintz also said that the buses who have come to the suburbs to avoid the rules made by Chicago have treated the migrants as a “shipment.”

“These are human beings with families and children, and they need a little bit more than just getting dropped off in the snow by an L station, and basically saying, ‘See you later,’” Rintz said.   

These suburban communities have not housed any migrants and instead have sent them to the Chicago Welcoming Center, because their governments do not have the same resources as Chicago, Cook County, or the state of Illinois to provide temporary shelter, food, and social services.

“We’re set up to provide core basic municipal services like police, fire, public works, [and] water,” Wilmette Village Manager Michael Braiman said. “We can’t take on something that we’re not qualified to do. That would not be fair to the individuals who need assistance,”  

However, no buses have requested to come to Winnetka since the ordinance was passed, according to Rintz, who was not surprised. 

“The chances of them [bus drivers] dropping more migrants in Winnetka is fairly low only because we have an ordinance, so they would probably prefer to go to Wilmette or Evanston, or one of the other communities that hasn’t passed an ordinance,” Rintz said.  

Wilmette is not currently planning to pass an ordinance, as the current process has worked so far, Braiman said. When an unscheduled bus comes to Wilmette, the police department is informed, and officers help direct the buses to the Wilmette Metra Station, which takes the migrants to the Welcoming Center.   

“It has not been problematic for our staff to support these individuals. That had no impact on our community, and if we can play a small role to help them get to the city safely for that Welcoming Center, then we’d like to continue to be able to do that,” Braiman said.  

Wilmette started a clothing drive to provide migrants with gear they could take when heading onto the train. The donation boxes are at Wilmette Metra Station and accept coats, hats, gloves, and boots.

Rintz wants the community to know that the governments of local and nearby communities are working to ensure that the interests of the migrants are taken care of.  

“The seven-county region [Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will] is working cooperatively to try to make sure that we have some semblance of order, sanity and processing this whole thing that will ultimately end up helping the [migrants] that are showing up here,” Rintz said. 

This story was originally published on New Trier News on January 24, 2024.