(The Center Square) – While Chicago continues to experience an influx of non-citizen migrants, Mayor Brandon Johnson said the city is making progress in helping those who have arrived.
Johnson provided updates as to how the city is handling the some 35,000 migrants who have arrived from the southern U.S. border over the past year and a half. Work permits for the migrants have been a priority, and since November, the city has worked with thousands of migrants in applying for work authorization.
“The City’s partnerships with the State, the County, and the faith and philanthropic communities have been vital to the continued success of the New Arrivals Mission,” the city said in a news release Monday. “Partners at the State and federal levels have coordinated 17 legal clinics since November, aiding over 2,700 eligible shelter residents in applying for work authorization.”
During a news conference Monday, Johnson said that work continues.
“We want to give every person and every single family enough to process their work authorization, find housing and start a new life in our great city,” Johnson said. “We are working to help create a pathway to self-sufficiency and independence.”
Pastor John Zayas of Grace and Peace Community Church, who partners with the city to provide resources, says some have been able to find jobs already.
“As we have been resettling families since we started our project in the unity initiative, 18% of our folks are now in apartments and working,” Zayas said. “They’re working. I do not know, but they are working.”
The taxpayer cost to care for the migrants is about $1.5 million per day. Johnson said that money has gone to housing, health care and meals.
“In response, my administration and our city have stepped up to meet this moment,” Johnson said. “We have stood up 28 temporary emergency shelters, and we have done this across the entire city of Chicago. We have provided over 300,000 meals per week.”
Chicago Public Health has also provided thousands of migrants with vaccinations and health screenings, according to Johnson.
Illinois taxpayers spent about $500 million on migrant care in 2023.
