As Highland Park, Deerfield enact migrant bus rules, North Shore of Milwaukee remains silent

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As Highland Park and Deerfield, Ill are the latest two suburbs to join in a national effort to restrict where migrant busses can drop of passengers, lawmakers in Madison introduced a new measure to address migrant placement.

Chicago Tribune first reported the new ordinances are “generic and apply to all one-way buses, no matter who the passengers are,” noting the new regulations were prompted after municipalities around Chicago have experienced an influx of unscheduled buses dropping off groups of migrants at all hours of the day and night.

According to Tribune, Texas Gov. Greg Abbot has sent more than 630 buses and 30,000 migrants to the Chicago area since last Fall.

Tribune noted migrant busses first arrived in the Chicago suburbs after city officials tightened rules regarding bus drop-offs in mid-December.

Illinois Emergency Management Agency has recommended suburban municipalities approve regulations addressing when and where buses can drop off one-way passengers. Tribune reported, the rules also seek advance communication from the bus companies about expected arrival date, times and a manifest of who is on the bus.

On January 12, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported city officials estimate 800 to 1,000 migrants have been drawn to Whitewater by jobs on farms.

According to a letter obtained by the Wisconsin Law Journal, back on December 28, 2023, Whitewater Police sent the White House a letter asking for additional resources to handle the influx of migrants.

The Associated Press reported a plane carrying 350 migrants from San Antonio landed on the Wisconsin border at Rockford International Airport at 1 a.m. on New Year’s Eve.

The Wisconsin Law Journal reached out to several municipalities in the Milwaukee Metro-area to see if similar ordinances were in the works in the Badger State.  Most declined to comment or did not respond to our request for comment.

A village of Whitefish Bay official said, “The village declines to comment.”

Wauwatosa Mayor Dennis McBride told the Wisconsin Law Journal that “nothing has come up in Wauwatosa yet.”

Jerry Deschane, Executive Director of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities told the Wisconsin Law Journal Friday, “I had not heard about Illinois municipalities enacting ordinances, until I saw your email.”

“There is certainly no sweeping wave (of municipalities enacting ordnances) happening in Wisconsin, or we would have heard about it,” Deschane added.

However, a bill recently introduced to the Wisconsin Legislature would address placement of migrant refugees, but does not address bussing drop offs mentioned in the Highland Park ordinance.

Pursuant to federal law, the federal government must consult with state and local governments before refugee placement; however, with whom they consult is not spelled out in federal law.

Under the proposed measure, if an employee or officer of a local governmental unit contacts or is contacted by the federal government or a private nonprofit voluntary agency regarding placements of refugees in the local governmental unit, the employee or officer must report the contact to the chief elected official.

The chief elected official must then notify each local governmental unit located entirely or partially within a 100-mile radius, as refugees are allowed to settle anywhere in a 100-mile radius of the refugee resettlement center.

The governing body of each local governmental unit receiving one of these notifications must meet and allow for public comment and designate a representative for the local governmental unit for purposes of consultation with the federal government or a private nonprofit voluntary agency.