Angry Chicago residents railed against local leaders at a city council meeting Wednesday as tensions run high over the national illegal immigrant crisis.
City and state officials have approved hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to feed, clothe and house more than 35,000 migrants who have been transported to Chicago and its suburbs in the past year and a half. The overwhelming influx of people has drained city resources and upset residents who told council members they have neglected needy American communities in favor of foreign asylum seekers.
“All this asylum-seeking lie, all this about refugees – no, no no. What’s happening is they’re emptying out the dregs of their jails into the United States and to our communities,” one Chicago resident said during public comments at Wednesday’s meeting.
“They’re junking up our country. And yeah, we feel some kind of way about it because it’s our country,” the resident said. “We’re going to get them out of our communities because they don’t deserve to be there.”
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A group of migrants receives food outside the migrant landing zone during a winter storm on Jan. 12, 2024, in Chicago. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)
Another speaker demanded “not another dollar for illegals” after Illinois’ Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker announced plans to allocate an additional $252 million to support Chicago’s response to the migrant crisis.
“If the crisis is so bad, the city council members who are so concerned should donate their salaries to the cause like a real public servant should,” the woman said.
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Recently arrived migrants in a makeshift shelter operated by the city of Chicago at O’Hare International Airport on Aug. 31, 2023. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Pritzker has pledged around $182 million in state funds for Chicago while Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has committed up to $70 million more in a joint funding plan to ensure migrants sent to the city from Texas have access to wraparound services and health care.
Those funds come on top of the state committing $160 million in November to illegal immigrants for “welcome, shelter, and independence.” That commitment was in addition to the $478 million the state has spent since the start of the response, according to the governor’s office.
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Mayor Brandon Johnson gives an update on migrant issues at City Hall on Jan. 29, 2024, in Chicago. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Illinois State Comptroller Susana Mendoza has launched a public website to track state spending on the migrant crisis and provide transparency for taxpayers interested in how their hard-earned money is being spent.
More than 35,000 migrants have been transported to Chicago and its suburbs over the past year and a half. Despite this influx, recent data from the city indicates a decline in the number of migrants staying at shelters, with figures dropping to their lowest point in months, according to Fox 32 Chicago.
As of last week, the number of migrants in shelters has fallen below 13,000, marking a decrease from peaks observed in mid- and early January, when the count reached nearly 15,000.
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The joint funding announcement came after state, county and city teams estimated that around $321 million is needed to maintain shelter and services this calendar year, on top of previously committed funding.
Mayor Brandon Johnson and the city of Chicago are still on the hook for about $70 million to cover costs associated with providing services for illegal immigrants. Asked about the needed funds last week, Johnson told reporters there are a “number of matters that need to be worked through,” according to NBC Chicago.
Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.