Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson plans to visit the southern border as Democratic cities like his continue to grapple with a significant influx of immigrants coming from Texas.
“We’re going to assess the full situation, and that also requires our team to be at the border,” Johnson said during a press conference on Wednesday.
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Johnson did not provide reporters with a specific time frame for the visit. Instead, he spoke to the 14 buses filled with immigrants from Texas communities that arrived in Chicago on Wednesday.
Johnson said he has “always” been concerned about the influx since he became mayor, taking shots at federal leaders when asked about his worries about the growing number of immigrants housed in police stations and airports.
“This is a growing crisis, not only for the city of Chicago but for the entire globe. The population shift that we are experiencing as the result of the failure of federal policies is now impacting the people of Chicago in a very dramatic way,” he said.
Johnson said more permanent shelters for immigrants are going up “every week.” His administration signed a one-year, nearly $30 million contract to retain a private security firm, GardaWorld Federal Services, to assist with the relocations on Sept. 12. As of the end of August, 1,576 immigrants were living in Chicago police stations, and another 418 were sleeping inside O’Hare International Airport, according to city data.
The number of immigrants in Chicago now exceeds 15,000 after nearly 30 buses arrived last week in the Windy City.
“It’s a tremendous sacrifice for the people of Chicago, and I certainly recognize how hard it has been for the people of Chicago. But what I do know for sure, without action, the type of chaos that the Republican Party is causing is going to be greater,” Johnson said. “We need shared responsibility from every single level of government. And so my concern did not start last week. It didn’t start today. I’ve been concerned about this.”
Chicago residents may have a say in whether Chicago remains a safe haven for immigrants thanks to a sponsored resolution that would create a referendum for the 2024 primary. The referendum, which would be added to the ballot, would ask voters whether Chicago should stay a designated “sanctuary city.”
“As Chicagoans, as difficult as this has been, what I’m calling on are these alders who have put forth this resolution: Join the choir. Join the choir pushing the federal government and the state government to continue to share the responsibility. That’s what leadership does, that’s what I’m doing,” Johnson said when asked his thoughts on the possibility of the referendum.
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Johnson added that Chicago will continue to band together and show up for “people who have needed the federal government to respond to their critical needs for generations now.”
Despite taking aim at Republicans, Johnson and Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL) are also putting pressure on President Joe Biden to determine what plans the White House has to aid Illinois, particularly Chicago, in the migrant crisis. Pritzker reportedly wrote a letter to Biden on Monday demanding that the president respond to the problem of illegal immigration at the southern border. He asked that Biden take the lead on ushering in a coordinated response at the border.
