Taxpayers in Illinois' Cook County will pay an additional $70 million to aid migrants coming to the Chicago area, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker announced on Thursday.
Cook County is home to Chicago, one of the country's largest cities and migrant epicenters.
National U.S.-Mexico border crossings dropped about 42 percent from December to January, according to new U.S. Customs and Border Protection data released Tuesday. However, numbers are still higher than average and follow years of record levels of illegal immigration under President Joe Biden's watch.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a Democrat, has been joined by New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, also both Democrats, in calling for more financial assistance from the federal government and Biden administration to properly shelter the influx of migrants coming into their cities.
Pritzker, a Democrat, and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said their joint funding plan "to ensure shelter, wraparound services and healthcare remain available for asylum seekers" sent to Chicago from the Texas border requires an additional estimated $321 million to maintain shelter and services this calendar year, on top of previously committed funding.
Cook County taxpayers, which have already paid $100 million as part of the current fiscal year budget toward new migrant arrival costs, will commit up to $70 million more for this joint funding plan.
"As critical funding for this ongoing humanitarian crisis stalls in Congress, Cook County stands committed to the well-being of the region," Preckwinkle said in a statement. "We cannot wait for additional resources and Cook County is proud to stand alongside Governor Pritzker in this joint funding plan."
Newsweek reached out to Pritzker and the Cook County Board of Commissioners via email for comment.
Pritzker and Preckwinkle pledged to combine financial resources totaling over $250 million to help close this gap.
Last November, the state committed an additional $160 million to the asylum-seeker response to invest in three areas defined as "welcome, shelter and independence." That is also on top of what the state has spent since the migrant response began, totaling $478 million.
Another $182 million is being pledged as part of Pritzker's upcoming 2025 fiscal year budget proposal to the General Assembly.
"With thousands of asylum seekers continuing to come to Chicago in desperate need of support and with Congress continuing to refuse to act—it is clear the state, county, and city will have to do more to keep people safe," Pritzker said.
Chicago has welcomed 35,547 new arrivals from the southern border since August 31, 2022, according to a city-run dashboard last updated on Wednesday.
That figure is comprised of the total number of individuals seeking asylum and arriving in the city via buses and airplanes from Texas—a state that has taken a hardened stance on the border, resulting in a drastic decrease in migrant encounters between December and January.
The city, through its immigration dashboard, said it has experienced "an unprecedented increase and frequency of buses" due to the city being named as host of the Democratic National Convention.
"In response to this fluid and dynamic situation, the city of Chicago has stood up 28 temporary congregate shelters across the city at a current rate of one shelter every six days, and [provides] case management for new arrivals to embark on a path of resettlement and self-sufficiency," the note says.
It continues: "Due to the amount of time it takes to retrofit buildings into congregate shelters, the city has relied on police station districts and airports to serve as emergency staging areas while people await shelter placement."
The surge of migrants into the Windy City has led to backlash among some locals, including litigation claiming that the city has not had the best intentions for its permanent residents.
In January, at least seven lawsuits were filed against the city by longtime residents, including three filed by people of color. One was filed by Chicago West Side resident Cata Truss, a 57-year-old mother. Another was filed by former Texas U.S. House of Representatives candidate J. Darnell Jones, a Democrat, DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) strategist and reparations proponent who lives in Chicago's South Side.
Rather than toss blame toward Texas Governor Greg Abbott for sending migrants to the city, they have blamed Biden and Chicago officials for allowing the influx to continue at a high rate.
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Nick Mordowanec is a Newsweek reporter based in Michigan. His focus is reporting on Ukraine and Russia, along with social ... Read more
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