A busload of approximately 40 migrants was dropped off at the Metra station in west suburban Westmont late Saturday morning, continuing an escalation of suburban drop-offs that began earlier this week.
The drop-off in Westmont was witnessed by NBC 5 Investigates reporter Bennett Haeberle at around 11:45 a.m., who noted that the migrants boarded Metra trains toward Chicago shortly after arrival at the station.
“It was a difficult journey because I traveled about 10 countries. I had to travel by train, and it was very cold, almost below zero degrees. We go through a lot of need," Osmel Raul Diaz Vazquez of Venezuela said.
Vasquez added that he didn't have any questions, he just wants "to be able to succeed."
The drop-off in Westmont mirrors 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 where migrants were dropped off 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.
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.
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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.
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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.
