Chicago’s Black community has expressed worries over the city’s plan to dole out $51 million to assist migrants in the city. On May 31...
Chicago’s Black community has expressed worries over the city’s plan to dole out $51 million to assist migrants in the city.
On May 31, the Chicago City Council passed the $51 million funding for migrants via a 34-13 vote. The funding came amid a surge of immigrants because of the border crisis inflicted by President Joe Biden’s soft migration policies.
Chicago has seen more than 10,000 immigrants enter the city since August last year, when Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott started busing immigrants from the southern border to the Windy City.
Before the city council’s vote, Chicago Republican leaders and members of the Black Community Collaborative and Neighborhood Network Alliance held a press conference trying to persuade the city council to dismiss the $51 million plan.
“We don’t know where that money is coming from. We are not being told where that money is going to be spent. We are not being told how it is being spent. It is irresponsible for the City Council to appropriate what is no more than stopgap money that will get us through a month or two and then the problem will still be staring at us in the face,” Chicago GOP chairman Steve Boulton said.
The city’s Black residents said the fund should be redirected to aid Chicago citizens first.
Chicago Against Violence CEO Andre Smith told the city council that he and another person stopped a migrant bus and were arrested for doing so. Smith also asked the city council to authorize a reparations plan for Black Americans instead.
“How dare this mayor and city council have the guts to give migrants $51 million. I demand you to have the same passion and urgency to pass the City of Chicago Reparations Ordinance and also give us an office for Black Americans, just like the new Americans,” Smith said.
The vote to allot $51 million toward funds for migrants came at the same time Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson ignored complaints from local residents and filled Wilbur Wright College with more than 300 immigrants. Local residents have protested the city’s assistance for migrants in the weeks leading up to and since Johnson’s May 15 inauguration.
Multimillion fund for migrants a slap in the face of Americans
Another resident, Natasha Dunn, told local reporters: “It was a slap in the face that we, as citizens of the United States of America, do not have the resources and support, but you’re going to bring people who are not citizens here in our community, in our buildings that we pay taxes for that you took away from us. It was completely unacceptable … The black people in Chicago are bleeding on the streets.”
In his inaugural address, Johnson doubled down on his stance.
“We don’t want our story to be told that we were unable to house the unhoused or provide safe harbor for those who are seeking refuge here because there’s enough room for everyone in the city of Chicago, whether you are seeking asylum or you are looking for a fully funded neighborhood,” Johnson said.
A movement of Chicago citizens filed a lawsuit last month to stop the city from sheltering 500 immigrants in a southside neighborhood school.
“The [city government’s] proposed action appears to disregard the zoning laws that are in place to safeguard the South Shore community. The failure to comply with these laws poses a significant threat to the rights and interests of the residents,” the lawsuit stated.
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