Aurora OKs new regulations aimed at buses from Texas

Migrant buses will have to give 5 days notice or face fines

Aurora City Council members at a special meeting Friday passed an ordinance regulating buses coming to the city to drop off migrants on their way to Chicago.

Council members voted 9-1, with one present vote, to adopt the ordinance that forces any buses coming into the city with one-way passengers and dropping them off to apply for a permit from the city five days in advance of arrival.

The ordinance also provides for a fine of up to $1,000 to the bus companies involved and their personnel, and possible seizure and impoundment of the buses, if the new rules are not followed.

“This is specifically intended to ensure the safety and welfare of those arriving by bus in Aurora in the future, and to provide the procedure to assist and direct migrants to their final destination,” said Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin. “The ordinance is not for the purpose of penalizing migrants, rather, it regulates the way that these chartered buses operate in the city …”

The ordinance proposal was prompted by the arrival of five buses earlier in the week to the Aurora Transportation Center. The passengers of the buses, which came from Texas, were dropped off with tickets or money for tickets for the Metra train to Chicago.

In one case, the passengers did not have money for the train, and Aurora Deputy Mayor Guillermo Trujillo, on instruction from the Emergency Management Agency of Chicago, purchased 48 tickets to Chicago for the passengers.

The ordinance uses the city’s Community Service Department to regulate the buses, requiring they apply for their permit through that department. Violating the ordinance would bring a citation through the community services avenue, rather than the Aurora Police Department, Aurora officials said.

“The Aurora Police Department may be called, but it’s not a law enforcement issue in our estimation,” said Nydia Molina, Aurora assistant corporation counsel. “This is a community service issue.”

The ordinance applies to commercial vehicles that are privately chartered for one-way trips. They must be carrying more than 10 passengers.

Fines for failing to get the permit would be issued “strictly” to the owners and drivers of the buses, Molina said. In extreme cases, the ordinance would give the Aurora police authority to tow and impound the buses.

To get a permit, an applicant must give a name, address and name of the transport company. They must provide arrival information, and give a plan for how the passengers will be received and cared for upon arrival.

“We believe this will hold the bus companies accountable,” Molina said.

During the meeting, Trujillo described responding last Tuesday to a bus arriving at the Aurora Transportation Center and dropping off passengers.

Trujillo said another bus arrived several hours later, and that city officials discovered a previous bus had come the night before.

When the second bus came on Tuesday, the passengers had no train tickets to Chicago, and Aurora’s Emergency Management Agency was notified, and they notified Chicago’s agency.

Chicago recommended Aurora buy the passengers tickets to Chicago.

Trujillo described a scene where children and their parents were running to get the train, most wearing almost no winter clothes, some even wearing flip-flop shoes.

“I’ve never seen people being treated this way, and I was a police officer for 30 years,” he said.

At about 7 p.m., another bus arrived, but city officials said the bus was hiding at the post office next to the transportation center.

Irvin and other city officials pointed out that the buses have been chartered to take the migrants to Chicago, which has the facilities to process them and take care of them.

Natalie Wiza, Aurora’s Emergency Management director, said they have collaborated with Chicago’s agency on a regional plan to get the migrants to Chicago.

“We want to assure safe passage to where there are resources for them,” Wiza said. “Chicago is where the processes are in place.”

Trujillo said in his experience talking to some of the migrants coming by bus, they want to go to Chicago. He said two men wanted to stay in Aurora, because family members were coming there to pick them up, and they were allowed to wait.

Adoption of the ordinance came after spirited comments from Aurora residents at the Friday meeting, most of whom said they considered the ordinance to be anti-migrant.

They portrayed Aurora as a place built by immigrants, a place that has been friendly to immigration. Some said the community stands ready to accept and help people coming to this country.

Aldermen said the ordinance was not designed to turn away people from the city. Ald. Ron Woerman, at large, pointed out that migrants coming in “is nothing new to Aurora.”

“We’re not a city that turns people away,” he said.

“This is not a proposed ordinance to turn people away,” said Ald. Brandon Tolliver, 7th Ward.

Ald. Ted Mesiacos, 3rd Ward, voted present on the ordinance, saying the city has a process that usually includes an ordinance proposal to come through the council’s committees.

“I’m not ready to go forward or backward on this measure,” he said.

Ald. John Laesch, at large, was the one vote against the ordinance, saying Texas is obviously adapting to the situation, and that the ordinance could force bus drivers to drop passengers off anywhere.

“They’re more at risk if they’re dumped on the side of the road,” he said.

During a press briefing after the meeting, Irvin said the city “did not create the circumstances” that have resulted in the bus drop-offs.

“We are not in a position to take care of people longterm,” he said. “This cannot be put on local municipalities. We will always do what we can.”

“The ordinance is not for the purpose of penalizing migrants, rather, it regulates the way that these chartered buses operate in the city …” — Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin