Full Notification

September 18, 2022, Sunday
Media Contact: Mayor Gary Grasso ([email protected])

I want to inform the community that the State today has relocated the Venezuelan refugees from the Burr Ridge Hampton Inn (located in DuPage County) to a hotel in a village in Cook County. We do not know which one. The move was orderly. The refugees have been well accommodated with the assistance of the Hampton Inn and many residents and organizations offering necessities, inquiries about job possibilities, and religious services. In my letter reply to the Governor this past week, I noted in particular how the State’s representative on site at the Hampton Inn had told me that the Village really "came through" in welcoming the refugees. There have been no calls upon Village services during the refugees stay here and we continue to wish them the best in their quest for freedom and a better life in the United States.

The State did not inform me nor anyone else at the Village of today’s relocation – we received a courtesy call this morning from the DuPage Board of Health (DBOH) about a possible move, and then confirmed the move was in progress. Why the State would inform the County but not the Village is unknown, as there has been no need for DBOH services during the refugee stay in the Village and they are being moved to Cook County. We understand the state initially did not know that the Hampton Inn was in DuPage County and may have decided to move the refugees to a location in Cook County. The State’s first announcement about the refugees coming here was based on a coordinated action with Cook County and the City of Chicago, so that may be the reason. Staff had heard from the DBOH Friday that this move might occur over the weekend, so mid-day yesterday I inquired with the State as to whom I should ask for information. That contact person told me that the State had not made a decision to move the refugees, but they were discussing it. I asked to be kept apprised; she promised to do so, but has not.

I issued a reply letter to the Governor stressing the inaccuracies in his letter to me the day before – a letter he released to the Patch at 6:00 pm the night before but did not have sent to me until after 10 am yesterday. My response is on the Village website. I reminded the Governor that neither he nor his press secretary had apologized for the slur the State had made about those seeking basic information that the Governor was demanding from his fellow governors concerning refugee transfers. I will keep you informed of any further substantive information we receive.

Also yesterday, but 235 years ago, was the official signing of the Constitution of the United States. So this weekend, combined with the events of the last week, present an occasion for all to consider this quotation from John Adams before we became a nation: "Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right ... and a desire to know.”