48th state House candidates find some common ground on migrant busing

While disagreeing on many issues, both candidates vying for the 48th state House seat agree that migrants must be cared for after being bused to the area from the Texas border.

Democratic Azam Nizamuddin and Republican Jennifer Sanalitro, both first-time legislative candidates, are running for the 48th House seat after incumbent Terra Costa Howard, a Democrat, was redistricted to the 42nd District.

The new 48th District includes Addison, Bloomingdale, Carol Stream, Hanover Park, Itasca, Keeneyville, Medinah, Roselle, Schaumburg and Wood Dale. It also includes Elk Grove Village, which in September saw the sudden arrival of 90 migrants from the Texas border after first being bused to Chicago.

Beyond the political ramifications of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's decision to send the migrants to different regions of the country, Nizamuddin and Sanalitro agreed that care for the migrants should be the primary focus.

"I feel terrible for them," said Sanalitro, a sales executive from Hanover Park. "It's very heartbreaking what they're going through, being bused from location to location. We should have housing programs or something of the sort to make sure these people have a nice place to sleep, eat, drink."

Nizamuddin noted that, as asylum-seekers, the migrants have a right to protection.

"We need to protect people who are legally here," said Nizamuddin, a Bloomingdale attorney. "Let's make sure we understand this. These are asylum-seekers. Under our laws, we're bound to treaties in which people can come to this country and seek asylum. And we adjudicate those cases as soon as possible."

Nizamuddin lashed out at Abbott's decision to bus the migrants, describing it as a political stunt neither party should embrace.

"It's really a political ploy on the eve of elections," Nizamuddin said. "It's basically using human beings as pawns for political gains. I think any person of goodwill, any leaders of goodwill regardless of their party, should really not buy into this."

Although she's sympathetic to the struggles of the migrants, Sanalitro said her concern with their arrival also rests with the safety of the people she'd represent in Elk Grove Village.

"We also need to make sure that we are protecting the people in our districts," she said.