SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday called up 75 members of the Illinois National Guard to help organize shelter, food and medical care for migrants arriving by bus from Texas.

About 500 people seeking asylum in the United States have been transported from the border by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott since the end of last month. Thousands have also been shipped to New York City and Washington, D.C., Democratic-led cities serving as sanctuaries for immigrants.

“While other states may be treating these vulnerable families as pawns, here in Illinois, we are treating them as people,” Pritzker said at a Chicago news conference.

But Pritzker said Abbott is sending busloads of migrants in the U.S. legally seeking asylum, without notice and attempts to communicate with Texas officials go unheeded. Pritzker’s emergency declaration speeds up procurement of needed supplies and the National Guard will help provide services they need.

“We are now 11 buses deep, and we know from speaking with our counterparts in New York and D.C., this will not relent,” said Grace Hou, secretary of Human Services.

Pritzker said officials have asked Texas to send the buses to welcoming centers, which are equipped to hand such newcomers, but the buses arrive at Union Station downtown.

Nine Illinois counties are in a new disaster declaration signed Monday by Gov. JB Pritzker.

Outside the Chicago area, the counties are Sangamon, Macon, Champaign, and Madison. Pritzker also announced the activation of 250 more Illinois National Guardsmen and -women, in addition to State Police support of local forces trying to keep protests of police brutality from getting out of hand.

“We cannot allow those who have taken advantage of this moment to loot and smash to also steal the voices of those peacefully expressing a need for real, meaningful change. This anger doesn’t come out of nowhere – it’s born of decades and centuries of systemic racism and injustice. That’s what all of us have to recognize and that’s where our work begins,” said the governor in a statement.

Last week’s police-custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis has sparked protests worldwide.