(The Center Square) – Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is part of a trio of Democratic mayors urging the federal government to help deal with the inflow of non-citizen arrivals.
Johnson, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston hosted a three-person news event Wednesday where all three called upon President Joe Biden for help.
Chicago has seen over 25,000 migrants arrive since last August, which has left many communities in need of help and several others refusing to take part in sheltering those arrivals.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Grundy County has put up signs on their highway that say “No Migrant Exit” to deter buses from Texas from stopping. Several communities have approved ordinances opposing migrants coming to their communities while others in the suburbs have approved ordinances restricting buses under certain conditions.
According to Johnson, Chicago is seeing up to 500 arrivals each day and can only go further with the help of the Biden administration.
“Chicago will always be a welcoming city, but we need collaboration at all levels of government and our federal partners to provide the necessary coordination and resources so that cities like Chicago, Denver and New York have what is needed to do this crucial work,” Johnson said.
The Chicago city council recently rejected allowing a non-binding referendum for voters to decide whether the city continues with sanctuary city policies.
Johnson said the migrant situation is causing chaos in cities outside of Chicago.
“As busses continue to arrive in the city of Chicago and all over the country, the type of chaos that has been administered has left many of our local economies under tremendous duress,” Johnson said.
City and state funds to deal with the crisis have totaled nearly $700 million this year alone. Johnson has recently announced a stop to buses arriving without notice, a move Adams is now implementing.
“We cannot allow buses with people needing our help to arrive without warning at any hour of day and night,” Adams said.
New York has seen over 100,000 migrant arrivals over the past 15 months.
Johnston also called upon the federal government for help.
“As Denver continues to see an increase of newcomers arriving in our city, many of whom are families with children who arrive in the middle of the night in below-freezing conditions, it’s clear that what the U.S. is currently doing is not working,” said Johnston. “Our cities are working shoulder-to-shoulder to support newcomers, but it’s time for the federal government to increase work authorization, create a coordinated entry strategy, and provide more federal dollars to ensure cities can manage this crisis and help newcomers thrive.”
The situation has some Illinois legislators calling for a complete closure of the border.
“After you secure the border, then you can start to talk about the different avenues and things that you want to do but nothing can be talked about until after the border is secure,” state Rep. Mike Coffey, R-Springfield, said earlier this year.
Chicago is also calling on the state of Illinois and Cook County governments to assist with more resources.
Earlier this month, Gov. J.B. Pritzker was asked about what sort of assistance they could give the city but was still waiting to give a definite answer due to the nonstop influx.
“We do not know from day to day literally how many people are going to be arriving because the governor of Texas and border politicians genuinely are making political decisions daily about what they want to do,” Pritzker said.
