North Cook News

A busload of "approximately 90" illegal immigrants from Nicaragua arrived in Elk Grove Village on Saturday, where they will stay at the La Quinta hotel there "indefinitely," according to an announcement by the village.

In a news release, Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson said Gov. J.B. Pritzker told his office yesterday that the illegal immigrants were en route, bused from the border by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to Illinois, a "Sanctuary State" that doesn't follow federal immigration law and has promised tax dollars to fund their room and board.

"The Village was informed by State of Illinois officials at 1:30 pm on Friday, September 9 that a migrant bus from Texas would be en route to Elk Grove Village.  The bus was due to arrive sometime on the afternoon of Friday, September 9.  But its arrival was delayed after Village officials began making inquiries to local, county, state and federal agencies to gain a better understanding of the situation," the release said.

Sources tell North Cook News the three buses that arrived were actually marked as from the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), sent to Elk Grove Village by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. The illegal immigrants on them were picked up at Chicago's Union Station, where they arrived on buses from Texas. 

The La Quinta Inn is located at 1900 Oakton St. in Elk Grove Village. The hotel is shown as being sold out tonight, though rooms later next week are available for $199 per night. 

According to Cook County property records, the hotel is owned by Sabeen Hospitality, 308 Castle Dr. in Elk Grove Village, which purchased it in 2012 for $3.5 million.

The company's managers, according to the Illinois Secretary of State, are Vipul M. Patel and Nayana V. Patel.

"I cannot tell you how disappointing it is"

Johnson said he was previously unaware that Pritzker's "Sanctuary State" plan meant illegal immigrants would stay in suburban hotels, like in Elk Grove Village or Burr Ridge in DuPage County, where 75 illegal immigrants from Venezuela arrived earlier this week, where they are also staying "indefinitely."

"This news that the migrants would be coming to Elk Grove Village came with no prior notification that the State’s plan for welcoming migrants included sending them to hotels in suburban communities. The news also came with no direction from state, county or City of Chicago authorities with respect to how municipalities are expected to handle this unanticipated situation," the release said.

“After having spent the last 24 hours asking tough questions and getting honest answers, we are satisfied that the federal agencies tasked with performing health and safety screening on the migrants are doing their job.  We have confidence in their ability to manage this situation capably,” said Elk Grove Mayor Craig Johnson.  “While the Village has no official role in managing this situation, we will continue to stay in very close contact with these agencies to ensure that any concerns we have are addressed fully and in a timely manner.”

“While the Village is now well-informed about what is taking place, I cannot tell you how disappointing it is to see the haphazard way in which this has been handled by county, state, and City of Chicago officials.," Johnson said. "The Village received no advanced notice that the migrants would be arriving here.  We received no information about when the bus would arrive, where the migrants would stay or whose responsibility it was to provide food or medical care.  Only after we began making phone calls and asking tough questions did we get the answers we were looking for.”