Niles, Lincolnwood, Norridge pass ordinances to curb unscheduled bus drop-offs of migrants
The villages of Niles, Lincolnwood, and Norridge have joined other Chicago-area suburbs in passing ordinances meant to prevent bus drivers from dropping off migrants within their village boundaries.
The ordinances generally have the same language, giving administrative fines to companies that make unscheduled stops and drop off more than 10 people in the village’s boundaries. The three villages don’t have a Metra connection to the city of Chicago but border the city at multiple points and have Pace and CTA bus routes that connect them to the city.
Niles
The Niles Village Board passed its ordinance on unscheduled bus stops at its village board meeting on Jan. 23. The ordinance requires bus companies to apply to the Niles Police Chief at least five days before a proposed drop-off date. The ordinance’s guidelines state that passengers to be dropped off need to provide their full name and copies of their ID and provide the names and contact information of those who will feed and house the passengers. The ordinance would permit buses to make scheduled, approved drop-offs between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Under the ordinance, the village could fine bus companies from $300 to $1,500 per offense. The bus itself could be seized and impounded, and a bus company would have to pay $500 in administrative fees to get the bus back.
At the village board meeting, Lee Goodman, a public commenter from Northbrook, criticized the ordinance saying it was meant to “run migrants out of town” and that the requirements for bus companies to meet would be “impossible.”
Mayor George Alpogianis responded to Goodman’s comments, “When we start taking care of our veterans first and getting them out of their tents, all the homeless veterans that we have, damn right we’ll help anybody. We gotta help our own people first, our veterans.”
Some members from the audience clapped after Alpogianis spoke.
The Village Board unanimously passed the ordinance. At least six bus routes run between Niles and Chicago, with Pace routes 290, 270, 240 and 241 going to CTA Blue Line train stations.
Lincolnwood
The Lincolnwood Village Board passed an ordinance at its village board meeting on Jan. 16, according to Assistant Village Manager Charles Meyer The Lincolnwood ordinance requires bus companies to get written approval from the village manager five days before a scheduled bus drop-off. The ordinance calls for bus companies to coordinate the number of people proposed to disembark and the full names and contact information of those who will take care of, house and feed the passengers when they get to the village.
Bus companies could face fines of $750 per passenger if they don’t get approval from the village manager. The bus could also be seized and impounded.
Lincolnwood has two CTA bus routes and three Pace bus routes that connect the village and Chicago. Some make connections to CTA Red Line and Blue Line train stations.
Norridge
The Norridge Village Board passed an ordinance on unscheduled bus dropoffs at its Village Board meeting on Jan. 24.
The ordinance requires bus companies to submit an application to the police chief five calendar days in advance of any planned drop-off of passengers, and the application must contain the names and contact information of the persons who arranged and paid for the transportation, the bus driver’s mobile phone number and the names and contact information of all passengers to be dropped off, as well as the people who will house and feed the new arrivals.
Penalties for violating the ordinance range from $300 to $1,000 per day, plus seizure and impoundment of the bus and possible other fines.
Regular CTA and Pace bus service connect Norridge to Chicago and to CTA train stations that connect to downtown Chicago.
“The ordinance is ensuring that we are able to push these people to the resources they need,” said Trustee Jack Bielak. “If people came at all hours of the day or night, we can’t provide as much support as we’d like to.”
