Tensions grow between city, state and federal government over influx of migrants
Tensions rose again this week between Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson over how to handle the tens of thousands of people who have arrived in the state since August 2022 via buses or planes sent from Texas.
The most recent back-and-forth between the two came in response to the city’s recent shift in its migrant strategy: away from building new shelters or even increasing capacity of existing shelters, instead focusing on getting migrants out of shelters and into other forms of housing.
The state had previously committed $65 million to building a shelter in Chicago in November — an effort that has still not come to fruition.
“I’m deeply concerned,” Pritzker said Monday. “We do not have enough shelter as it is in the city of Chicago. The city has not told the state where they would like us to put our resources. We can’t help if they don’t identify those locations.”
Johnson’s administration is gearing up to enforce the city’s 60-day eviction policy at Chicago’s shelters. Enforcement of that policy was initially delayed due to dangerously cold weather but is set to go into effect next week.
At a news conference on Wednesday, Johnson suggested that the state build shelters outside of his city.
“The state of Illinois can build a shelter anywhere in the state of Illinois, the state does not have to build a shelter in Chicago,” Johnson said.
Johnson also said Wednesday that he did not think his administration was at odds with Pritzker.
Within city government, Chicago’s shelter policies have drawn criticism. Thursday, a group of 16 city aldermen penned a letter asking the mayor to walk back the eviction policy.
“To stand by the decision to impose 60-day limits on shelters without addressing these systemic issues leaves new arrivals without options for housing or shelter,” the aldermen wrote. “This situation simply should not be acceptable.”
Beyond Chicago, Pritzker joined eight other Democratic governors earlier this week in a letter to President Joe Biden and congressional leadership asking for more federal coordination of resources to help migrants.
“While political motivations continue to delay the negotiations, our economy, states and localities are bearing the brunt of the shortcomings of the existing immigration system,” the governors wrote. “Therefore, as you return to Washington to resume work on critical federal funding measures, we strongly urge Congress and the Administration to quickly negotiate an agreement on a border security legislative package.”
In addition to Pritzker, the letter was signed by the governors of New York, Arizona, California, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New Mexico.