Burr Ridge Mayor Talks To Lightfoot About Migrants

BURR RIDGE, IL – Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso said Monday he has been unable to reach Gov. J.B. Pritzker's office, which suggested village officials were showing xenophobia.

But Grasso said he has been in touch with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot about the 64 Venezuelan migrants sent to Burr Ridge from Chicago last week.

At Monday's Village Board meeting, Grasso said Lightfoot called him during the Bears game Sunday. He said they had a professional mayor-to-mayor conversation when she calmed down after a few minutes. Grasso has been critical of the fact that the authorities failed to notify the village before the migrants arrived last Wednesday.

Grasso said he told Lightfoot that Burr Ridge had the right to know in advance and that it was "inexcusable" that the village was not informed.

"She said that it was not the city of Chicago's fault, that it was the state of Illinois' fault, that (the state) had taken over the placement of the migrants," Grasso said.

He said he politely asked her why the migrants would be taken to Burr Ridge when Chicago said it would welcome them.

He said she couldn't answer, deferring to the state.

In response to a Patch email about the conversation, Lightfoot's office released a statement Tuesday, "The City of Chicago continues to work closely with the county, state, and federal partners to welcome the arriving migrants that Texas is inhumanely transporting. As Mayor Lightfoot has said, we will work with Mayors across the metro area to maintain an open line of communication to provide adequate care and treat new arrivals with the dignity they deserve."

"As of this moment, I still have not received a call from the governor's office. We have been disparaged by the press secretary of the governor, which must have been at the approval of the governor, which is an interesting way to react to legitimate questions of the voting public and to me personally," Grasso said.

After Grasso criticized the state last week for not informing the village, the governor's spokesman, Jordan Abudayyeh, spoke out in defense.

He told WGN the state had a relationship with Burr Ridge's Hampton Inn, where the migrants are staying. The hotel, he said, had taken in refugees before.

"(S)o it is interesting that local officials are choosing this specific instance to gripe to the press about this specific group of asylum seekers that consists of about 30 families," Abudayyeh told WGN. "Gov. Pritzker has made it clear that Illinois is (a) welcoming state and xenophobia has no home here."

At Monday's meeting, Grasso said Burr Ridge is proud of its diversity. He said the migrants are being used as "pawns."

In an email Monday, Patch asked Abudayyeh why the governor's office has not returned the mayor's calls. It also asked why the state did not inform the state about the migrants beforehand.

Abudayyeh responded that it was her understanding Grasso had spoken with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. She did not answer why the state failed to give Burr Ridge a heads-up.

Pritzker and Lightfoot are Democrats; Grasso is a Republican, though the Burr Ridge mayor is a nonpartisan office.