Chicago encourages Texans to leave state

The city of Chicago has taken out full-page ads in The Dallas Morning News to encourage Texans unhappy with the state’s new abortion law and other issues to leave the state.

The ads tout Chicago’s tech and business sector as well as the city’s more liberal politics, pointing to voting rights, abortion and an emphasis on science as a means to combat COVID-19.

Texas this year has adopted a new controversial abortion law that makes any abortion six weeks after conception illegal. It has also instituted new voter identification laws that have drawn criticism from liberals who say they disenfranchise minority voters.

Texas has also been a battleground over the pandemic. The state imposed a ban on school mask mandates that prompted a federal civil rights investigation.

“In Chicago, we believe in every person’s right to vote, protecting reproductive rights, and science to fight COVID-19,” reads the ad, which was paid for by World Business Chicago.

Chicago takes out Dallas Morning News ad to bait businesses after new Texas abortion, voting laws https://t.co/hygwy4l1bk

— Dallas Morning News (@dallasnews) September 11, 2021

Chicago’s choice to entice Texans to migrate north comes as Texas has lobbied businesses to grow in the Lone Star State. The state has sold its lower tax rates and lower cost of living, while touting that it has less government oversight than other states.

Tesla, SpaceX, Oracle, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Charles Schwab are among the companies that have set up shop in Texas.