The village of Fox River Grove found itself as the latest suburban community affected by the migrant crisis on Saturday, as a bus driver dropped off more than 30 migrants, who thought they had reached Chicago.
In a Facebook post, the village said 38 migrants from Texas arrived at the Metra station along Northwest Highway in the early morning hours, and disembarked their bus after being told they had arrived in Chicago. In actuality, they were more than 45 miles from downtown.
Village police officers responded to the station and provided the migrants access to a warming shelter. By 7 a.m., arrangements had been made for the group to obtain Metra tickets and continue to Chicago, the village said.
"FRG is not the only collar county municipality grappling with such situations," the Facebook post read, in part. "Several other communities have encountered similar challenges, highlighting the need for a coordinated regional approach to ensure the safety and well-being of migrants and residents alike."
Another busload of approximately 40 migrants arrived in suburban Westmont on Saturday. As was the case in River Grove, the migrants were dropped off at a Metra station, where they took a train to downtown Chicago.
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The drop-offs mirror similar suburban drop-offs this week in Aurora, Manhattan and Elburn, where migrants were told to board trains to Chicago after being dropped off.
In the instance in Manhattan, they learned that there were no more Chicago-bound trains for the evening and headed to a station in Joliet to board a train to the city.
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One drop-off in Kankakee took officials by surprise, when a bus driver told migrants they had arrived in Chicago when arriving at a gas station in the rural city over 60 miles south of the Loop.
Some migrants who traveled on the bus began to walk on the expressway covered in blankets, with officials in Kankakee County arranging for a local bus company to transport the migrants to Midway International Airport.
Police are still trying to identify those responsible for abandoning the group at the gas station.
The sheriff's office said it filed an emergency declaration with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency "due to concerns about potential future incidents," saying the department has "limited resources available to accommodate such situations, comparable to the assistance provided in Chicago."
The increase in suburban drop-offs comes as buses try to circumvent policies recently implemented by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson that aim to crack down on buses arriving outside of designated arrival times.
Meanwhile, in suburban Aurora on Friday, the City Council passed an ordinance that calls for drivers and bus companies to notify the appropriate agency at least five days prior to a bus's arrival. Those who don't comply could be subjected to fines of up to $1,000 per passenger.
