Will County monitoring migrants coming to Joliet, Lockport and other cities

Will County — The Will County Emergency Management Agency issued a statement Friday addressing its plans to coordinate with local municipalities affected by buses of Latin American migrants being sent from Texas.

“Our municipalities have seen an increase in buses from Texas disembarking passengers at Metra stations and other locations throughout the county,” Will County EMA Director Allison Anderson said in a news release. “We are working to coordinate information between public safety agencies, the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago. Our priority is ensuring humane transportation of asylum-seekers to the official Chicago landing zone.”

Chicago passed an ordinance Dec. 13 declaring that it would be impounding buses that did not send warning of their arrival to the city or drop migrants at designated landing zones and fining the bus companies. The decision was made to make processing migrants and providing them with assistance easier to manage for city and state agencies.

The official landing zone is being run by Chicago’s EMA at 800 S. Des Plaines Ave., where city and state officials are providing migrants with shelter until they can find more permanent placements.

As a result of the impoundments, however, multiple buses of migrants have been dropped in suburbs and in collar counties, particularly at Metra stations.

According to the Will County EMA, Lockport, Manhattan and University Park already have been affected.

“Local police departments and the sheriff’s department have reached out to [the] EMA as buses disembark in Will County,” EMA spokesman Michael Theodore said. “[The] EMA has advised municipal police on the Chicago landing zone location and has coordinated with the city of Chicago on receiving asylum-seekers, who have been transported to the landing zone via Metra or direct transportation from the municipality.”

Lockport issued an emergency order Friday afternoon in response to a bus of migrants being dropped at the city’s Metra station Thursday.

The order provides power to the Lockport Police Department to fine bus operators and impound buses that did not receive proper clearance to drop passengers in the city of Lockport, or do so at unauthorized times, in order to protect the health and safety of Lockport residents and migrants.

“We received a report of suspicious activity at the Metra station at about 4:15 on Thursday,” police Chief Rich Harang said. “It turned out to be 30 or 40 migrants from El Paso, Texas. After a period of time, we learned an unknown bus had dropped them off in the Metra lot, and we worked with Will County EMA to coordinate with Chicago to arrange for the arrival of the migrants to their facility.”

Harang said none of the migrants spoke English, and officers struggled to communicate with them until an officer who speaks Spanish arrived at the scene. It’s unclear how long the migrants had been on the bus, but they had no idea where they were and only had been given military-style rations to eat.

Lockport police provided them with snacks and water while transportation was coordinated with Lockport Township buses, he said.

“This was not coordinated whatsoever,” Harang said. “Towns don’t have the resources to deal with this. Chicago’s center was great, but it’s a matter of getting people there safely.”

Harang reported that five or six other suburban communities have received similar, unexpected bus arrivals since Lockport’s incident. The village of New Lenox, falling in line with the other communities, also issued an executive order.

The new order mandates that “unscheduled intercity buses” – meaning any bus operating outside a set schedule or coming from outside the Chicago-Joliet-Naperville area to drop off passengers in the city – must receive a permit to do so from the city five days in advance of its arrival and must arrive between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays.

As part of receiving approval, the bus operator must send a list of passengers and have conducted background checks on all passengers older than 18, the city said. Bus operators who violate these rules will be subject to fines of $750 per passenger and a $5,000 fines plus fees for the towing and impounding of the buses.

Criminal charges also could be filed against the bus operator, bus drivers and any employee in charge of overseeing passengers who allows them to be discharged from the bus in a way that “endangers the health, safety or welfare of the passengers” under Lockport’s emergency order.

According to the language of the order, it was passed because “incidents have occurred in the city of Lockport as well as other suburban communities in which buses have discharged or unloaded passengers within the city without sufficient clothing, resource, food and other sustaining items without means to obtain shelter.”

The emergency order will remain in effect until the City Council’s next scheduled meeting Jan. 3. Harang said the city hopes the threat of consequences will prevent another incident.

The city of Joliet also said it has had to coordinate with Will County EMA to get buses rerouted to the landing zone in Chicago.

“We are working in coordination with the Will County EMA to get migrants to the landing zone even after hours,” Joliet Mayor Terry D’Arcy said. “Our first responders are all aware of the situation and can direct the buses to Chicago.

“[Chicago] has been more than forthcoming, working with Will County EMA when they call ahead to let them know people are coming.”

So far, D’Arcy said, Joliet and Will County have arranged for several buses to arrive in the Chicago landing zone, but if migrants were to be dropped off and left by their bus, Joliet has vehicles at the ready to transport them to Chicago for processing if necessary.

On Thursday evening, a bus containing migrant passengers did arrive at the Gateway Transportation Center in Joliet, according to the Joliet Police Department on Friday. Officers arrived on the scene and escorted the migrants to the Metra train platform, according to Joliet police. Officers then stood by to ensure all were safely boarded onto a Metra train to Chicago, according to Joliet police.

The buses of migrants are being sent primarily from Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott has implemented the program as a political tool targeting northern sanctuary cities, often providing little or no warning that the buses of migrants will be arriving.

“We appreciate the open lines of communication between our local public safety leaders, the Metra Police Department and other partners during the response to this situation,” Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant said. “County government will continue working with the state and the city of Chicago on gathering the latest information, along with advocating for the federal government to pressure Texas officials to begin providing information on planned bus arrivals.”

The Will County EMA said it will continue providing information and support to local governments throughout the holiday weekend.

“Due to the lack of coordination and information from the state of Texas, there is no clear indication of the number of buses that might be arriving in Will County in the near future,” the EMA said in the release.