Chicago mayor blames migrant crisis on Texas Gov. Abbott: 'Take a look in the mirror'

CHICAGO (TND) — Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson pointed a finger at Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Monday following the reported death of a migrant child in a city shelter.

In a fiery speech, Johnson claimed the "condition" in which migrants are arriving to Chicago is "quite disturbing," something he says is not his city's fault. He called it "sickening" to hold Chicago accountable for "something that's going on at the border."

“The issue is not just how we respond in the city of Chicago, it’s the fact that we have a governor, an elected official in the state of Texas that is placing families on buses without shoes, cold, wet, tired, hungry, afraid, traumatized and then they come to the city of Chicago where we have homelessness, we have mental health clinics that have been shut down and closed,” he said. “The governor of Texas needs to take a look in the mirror of the chaos that he is causing for this country.”

Johnson closed the speech by defending his administration, saying it has been working hard to help arriving migrants recover from damaging policies.

READ MORE | Chicago mayor bashes Abbott after Texas sends first bus of migrants to city

“Don’t disrespect the people who have been working on the front line, fighting to bring dignity to Black people who have been harmed by the same policies that buddy from Texas is trying to instigate," he said.

Abbott has faced criticism for more than a year for his approach to the ongoing migrant crisis. The governor has routinely sent buses of migrants from the southern border to cities nationwide which have deemed themselves as sanctuaries, including Chicago.

In May, Abbott wrote to then-Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot that he would not cease sending migrants to the city, calling the approach "much-needed relief to our overrun border communities."

Chicago's sanctuary status has been heavily debated recently. Last week, the city council rejected a proposed referendum to limit its status after some members worried doing so would cause division. However, residents have advocated for changes to the status, claiming the migrant crisis is becoming detrimental to the city.

READ MORE | Chicago residents grill city council over sanctuary status: 'Do you want a race war?'

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierredescribed the recent migrant death as “devastating” Tuesday.

“That’s devastating,” she said. “And I know that the president feels the same way. This is why we have taken it very seriously from day one when it comes to dealing with the broken immigration system. That is why the first piece of legislation that the president put forth was on immigration and doing everything that we can in a comprehensive way to deal with it.”