Despite expected surge in arrivals, no buses carrying migrants have come to Chicago during DNC

When a Far South Side mutual aid group learned Chicago could see an influx of asylum-seekers during the Democratic National Convention, the group put together 200 emergency bags containing toiletries and rounded up tents and sleeping bags.

But two days into the convention that has drawn thousands to Chicago, there’s been no evidence of any buses transporting migrants to the city, according to city officials. In fact, the last time a bus arrived in Chicago was June 17, according to the city’s Department of Family and Support Services.

On Tuesday, the city’s designated area for buses to arrive, 800 S. Desplaines St., remained quiet. The area, which previously housed the Maxwell Street Market, contained a row of portable toilets, police barriers and CTA buses on standby for any arrivals.

City officials said Texas does not provide advance notice about the buses, but it now seems unlikely that there will be an increase in newly arrived immigrants.

“What we do know is that fewer migrants are crossing into the U.S. at the southern border since President (Joe) Biden’s executive order was implemented, which restricted the number of border crossings for people seeking asylum,” said Brian Berg, a spokesman for the city’s Department of Family and Support Services. “The lower number of border crossings may be informing the number of buses arriving to Chicago from Texas.”

Tim Noonan, executive director of 19th Ward Mutual Aid, said he doesn’t regret the group being overly prepared by putting together the emergency bags and collecting clothing donations. The group is among a patchwork of mutual aid groups that have been on the front lines of helping asylum-seekers for the past two years. He's seen how the immigrants — many from Venezuela — have been weaponized by politicians.

“The governor of Texas uses these families and children as weapons,” he said. “They try to weaponize them by saying, ‘Oh, we are going to slam you guys with a bunch of buses.’ It’s not in a humanitarian way whatsoever.”

About 5,500 newly arrived immigrants remained housed Tuesday across 17 shelters operated by the city and the state. Since Texas first started sending asylum-seekers to Chicago in 2022, an estimated 46,787 people have arrived in Chicago by bus or plane, according to city officials.

Nationally, the number of apprehensions along the southwest border has decreased from 301,981 in December to 104,116 in July, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Some reasons for the drop include restrictions like having to secure an appointment to petition for asylum if migrant levels are above a certain threshold to questions by officials about whether the person seeking asylum could have moved to a different part of their native country for safety, said Kathleen Bush-Joseph, a policy analyst with the Migration Policy Institute.

The United States has also pushed for Mexico to have stronger enforcement of immigration while working with other regional countries to slow migration by requiring things like visas for certain nationalities, Bush-Joseph said.

The country could be experiencing a “wait and see” period that typically follows restrictive immigration measures.

“What we’re hearing is that more and more people are trying to wait in Mexico and secure the CBP One phone app appointments,” she said. “But as more people try and the number of appointments has not gone up, then wait times increase and people facing violence and difficult circumstances in Mexico may just run out of time or resources there and try to cross without authorization.”