The Chicago City Council has appropriate $51 million to pay for feeding and housing the migrants who arrive in Chicago on a daily basis. At ABC 7 Chicago Diane Pathieu, Sarah Schulte, and Eric Horng report:
CHICAGO (WLS) — As debates rage over how to care for migrants arriving in Chicago from Texas, the City Council met Wednesday to consider how to pay for it.
Not everyone is on board with $51 million in financial aid for migrants in Chicago, which is meant to help provide housing.
Many residents voiced their concerns before and during Wednesday’s council meeting.
However, the funding initiative passed with a 34-13 vote.
Before that, CPD had to escort people out of the meeting several times, as Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson asked for a two-minute breather.
“I want to make sure we are conducting the business of the people,” Johnson said.
More than 10,000 asylum seekers have arrived in Chicago since last August. Hundreds are still sleeping on floors in various police departments.
This proposed funding is only expected to last through June.
Aldermen were split on which way to vote, with some saying that money should go to underfunded neighborhoods and others saying this is a sanctuary city that must help those seeking asylum.
$51 million is more than the State of Illinois has appropriated for migrants. It is remarkable that the City of Chicago should be expected to pay the full tab for all of those migrants and $51 million will only pay for a couple of months.
Sad as it is to say neither the city nor the state have any responsibility to house or feed these migrants. The federal government, however, does (at least according to the UNHCR).