Dupage Policy Journal

Police, local politicians and even the employees of a local Hampton Inn do not know why Burr Ridge and DuPage County were selected to house 75 illegal immigrants dropped off on Sept. 7.

The illegal immigrants were dropped off by the busload from Chicago at the Hampton Inn located west of County Line Road.

“I don’t know where they came from to be honest with you,” a Hampton Inn employee said in a video shared by an area resident. "They were just dropped off yesterday afternoon."

Video of the scene shows illegal immigrants sprawled in the lobby — where many were on laptops — and lounging at the swimming pool and patio outside. Pallets of water were unwrapped in the lobby.

Rooms at the Hampton Inn are listed at $165 per night.

WGN-TV reported that Chicago sent the illegal immigrants to Burr Ridge after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott bussed them into the city last week.

While Chicago and Cook County are a sanctuary city and county respectively, the Burr Ridge location chosen by the politicians who welcomed the residents is not.

Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso told WGN-TV that he was unaware of the drop until residents contacted him. A text message from Grasso to a resident was also shared with the DuPage Policy Journal in which the mayor said he’d received no official communication from any government agencies or offices.

One of those residents was Barb Pearson who lives in unincorporated Burr Ridge. Pearson said Lightfoot’s actions in sending the illegal immigrants to a non-sanctuary city and county where they can easily be detained do not match with her words.

At a press conference in which she welcomed the illegal immigrants days earlier, Lightfoot said, “They’re not cargo. They are not chattel. They are human beings.”

“Lori Lightfoot, she’s talking of pushing cargo around. She’s guilty of it,” Pearson told DuPage Policy Journal. 

She said the Burr Ridge Police Department confirmed the drop-off. Burr Ridge police did not respond to a phone call from the DuPage Policy Journal.

Pearson said she feels it was a political move to send the illegal immigrants from Chicago — where they were greeted with open arms by Democrats, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker — to an affluent, largely Republican neighborhood where homes are worth millions of dollars.  

“How do you say that and not be called, you know — a terrorist or whatever?” Pearson told DuPage Policy Journal.

Chicago is the perfect spot for people breaking the law to enter the country according to Texas Governor Greg Abbott, because it is a sanctuary city and won't treat illegal immigrants differently based on their status.

Busloads of illegal immigrants from Texas are also being sent to other sanctuary cities, including New York City and Washington, D.C., each of which has taken in about 8,000 illegal immigrants. As a result, it is much more likely that illegal immigrants from Texas will travel to Burr Ridge via Chicago.

According to Abbott, the busing is a reaction to President Joe Biden's stance on "open borders” which have seen a rapid influx of illegal immigrants crossings due to a lack of rigid enforcement from the federal government.