Austin, December 22 (RHC) -- Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott chartered a flight Tuesday that brought more than 120 immigrants from the U.S.-Mexico border to Chicago.  It’s a major escalation of Abbott’s policy of transporting asylum seekers to Democratic-led cities and comes just after Abbott signed Senate Bill 4, which makes it a state crime to enter Texas outside of a U.S. port of entry. 

This comes amid mounting tensions in Chicago over the arrival of migrants from the southern border, and a worsening housing and health crisis that faces them.  On Sunday, a 5-year-old boy staying at a temporary shelter died amid a spate of illnesses at the facility. 

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is calling for more resources to support migrant families and an end to the political weaponization of the issue.   Mayor Johnson said>  “Everyone knows that the right-wing extremism in this country has targeted Democratically ran cities.  And quite frankly, they’ve been very intentional about going after Democratically ran cities that are led by people of color.  And their whole motivation is to create disruption and chaos, because that’s what this — that particular party has been about.”