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* Tribune…
In a post-City Council meeting news conference Wednesday afternoon, the mayor said Chicago was now expecting at least 14 — and as many as 22 — buses that day
* From last week’s city council hearing…
Representatives from two volunteer-led organizations at Friday’s meeting said that volunteers haven’t gotten any financial support from the city. In a presentation, a representative from the mutual-aid Police Station Response Team estimated volunteers have spent about $2.4 million on food and water for migrants and nearly $1 million on supplies. They’ve also supplied about $2.9 million in free labor, according to the estimate.
* Chicago Ald. Nicole Lee told Mayor Brandon Johnson that her 9th Police District volunteers are simply overwhelmed after providing what looks like a remarkable level of comfort and goods for asylum-seekers. Lee is right that volunteers shouldn’t be expected to indefinitely carry this heavy of a load…
Dear Mayor Johnson:
I’m writing to you today on behalf of the residents of the 11th Ward, the mutual aid volunteers and roughly 298 migrants currently in the 9th District and the officers who work there. As a community, we have welcomed thousands of migrants who have come through the 9th District as they awaited shelter space. Our mutual aid volunteers, donors from the ward including residents and nonprofits, and police officers have provided food, clothing, blankets, suitcases, toys and more for more than a year now. My office works closely with the mutual aid organization for D9 and together, we operate a free shop where donated items are sorted and organized so that new arrivals can shop with dignity for basic items they need.
We’ve worked with our park district and community partners to provide showers which means the other citywide resources can be sent to other locations where they are needed. Our community has handled the pressures of this crisis as well as anyone could ask and thankfully, we have so far, not had any major incidents between migrants, residents and police. The number of ‘minor incidents’, however, are beginning to accrue and frankly, the situation has become untenable: last night, 25 asylum seekers were essentially “evicted” from D9 due to capacity constraints. Moreover, our mutual aid group has made gargantuan efforts to welcome asylum seekers but we can no longer sustain these efforts with the numbers we currently have. We need citywide equity across the police districts for placement of migrants. Our district has regularly ranked among the ones with the greatest number of people being “staged”. In fact, based on yesterday’s figures alone, Area 1 has 142 more migrants in its districts than the next highest which is Area 3. Area 1 has more migrants than all of Area 2 and Area 5 combined.
Mr. Mayor, the 9th District cannot handle any more migrants at this time. With the number we have currently, we know it is unsafe and unsanitary for the migrants, the police and our community. Our volunteers have done an incredible job, but, as you know, they have full time jobs too. I recognize the challenge of finding solutions and while we cannot control the flow of buses, and the use of migrants as ‘political weapons’ by the Republican Party, I would love to have a conversation about how we can better manage the situation on the ground specifically around:
1. Having full-time staff at our police districts to perform intake and conduct oversight
2. Leveraging technological tools to help process migrants and inform them of the resources at their disposal to better set them up for success for their new life in our city
3. Hiring a team of canvassers from Chicago to travel to border states to combat false information about what services and resources are available here.
4. Developing a playbook for this response with processes and protocols that should be followed at every location new arrivals are being staged, sheltered or housed.
Seems like she makes some good points and has decent ideas. The mayor should listen. Volunteers are of course essential (and the mayor ought to shower them with praise), but they just can’t handle all these tasks on their own. Especially going forward.
* Meanwhile…
is it legal for a commercial bus company to drop a load of passengers at any spot they want in the city at any time of day? https://t.co/ogzssTivcp
— Jake Lewis (@jake____lewis) October 5, 2023
Far and away, the best option is to come up with a solution at the source, in Venezuela. But until that happens, one thing the state, city and county can do is get tough on these bus companies. Yes, some of them have cooperated by tipping off officials about arrival times and places and other intel, but obviously that bus company did not cooperate.
* Bottom line: Since the federal government is not providing much assistance and the city is flailing without a plan, the state needs to step up and take at least temporary command.
…Adding… Something posted in comments that some of y’all need to keep in mind…
=== Why is there a presumption that everyone arriving in the city has some type of legal status.===
Because if they weren’t legal, Abbott wouldn’t be able to put them on the bus without breaking the law. Federal law – 8 USC 1324
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 11:10 am
Sorry, comments are closed at this time.
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==to drop a load of passengers at any spot they want in the city at any time of day?==
This is what makes the actions of the Governor’s of Texas and Florida so despicable. I don’t even know how they look themselves in the mirror showing this level of disregard for people. They treat them like cattle. No regard for them whatsoever as human beings. It’s disgusting. Anyone that defends this kind of behavior is just as despicable as they are.
Comment by Demoralized Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 11:15 am
-the state needs to step up and take at least temporary command.-
Start enforcing state and local laws. I’m not aware of Chicago citizens being allowed to camp out at places not designated for housing. When migrants and the Texas Governor see that , they might stop wanting to come to Illinois.
Comment by Steve Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 11:16 am
Maybe HB should now follow Biden’s lead and build a wall around the State
Comment by Sue Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 11:19 am
==the Texas Governor see that==
The Texas Governor doesn’t care. He’s too busy continuing his political stunt parade.
Comment by Demoralized Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 11:23 am
Ald. Lee is impressive on this and other issues…a problem solver, not a showboat.
Comment by Telly Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 11:23 am
“I’m not aware of Chicago citizens being allowed to camp out at places not designated for housing.”
Hard to believe this is a serious comment. Are you stating that you were previously unaware that homeless people exist in Chicago?
I think we’re going to have to come up with a solution more humane and realistic than locking immigrants in cages.
Comment by Larry Bowa Jr. Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 11:23 am
Can we start fining the transportation companies and seizing the buses and planes Texas uses to send migrants here? Maybe arrest the drivers for trafficking?
Comment by froganon Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 11:23 am
-Can we start fining the transportation companies and seizing the buses and planes Texas uses to send migrants here? -
No city that has many undocumented public school students will do that. Not going to happen. Plus, the migrants you see coming on buses say they want to come to Chicago. The Biden administration has legally allowed them to come to the interior of the U.S. with many given the right to legally work here.
Comment by Steve Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 11:29 am
This is a Federal issue and must be controlled by the Federal Government. Our congressional reps and Durbin and Duckworth should be doing something. I have no hope that Congress will ever pass immigration reforms. I am not a fan of government by executive orders but i think it is time. Biden should do something
Comment by DuPage Saint Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 11:32 am
Not all of the migrants arriving are being sent by the Texas governor. This is a serious problem that I agree needs to be ultimately resolved in Venezuela but until that time the chaos at the border needs to be addressed. I see Biden has authorized a 20-mile wall on one part of the border but that is not an instant or complete fix. Where is the policy and people that are needed today from the administration?
Comment by Just a Citizen Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 11:33 am
==Can we start fining the transportation companies and seizing the buses and planes Texas uses to send migrants here? Maybe arrest the drivers for trafficking?==
Lol what?! Seizing commercial buses and aircraft? Under what premise? And I think this has been said over and over…this not trafficking. People are coming to Chicago by choice. They know there is more government provided services, protection, and shelter here than anywhere in Texas and surrounding States. Folks, this isn’t 4D Chess, Sanctuary State and City has put a target on us, just as the right to shelter law made them a political target.
Comment by LastModDemStanding Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 11:33 am
How do these people have the money to get from Venezuela (or wherever) to Mexico in the first place?
Comment by hisgirlfriday Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 11:36 am
“The migrant levee breaks”
Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan, oh
If you’re going down south, they got no work to do
If you’re going north to Chicago
Ah, ah, ah, hey
Comment by Donnie Elgin Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 11:40 am
“ Sanctuary State and City has put a target on us”
Every thread about this is full of people like this who have no idea what the contours of the debate are. Sanctuary city means we don’t spend local $ to enforce federal immigration laws. Refugees are here legally, and not just because Joe Biden decided it. They have an established protected legal right to seek asylum. If you can’t understand the basic facts about this, you aren’t being productive at all
Comment by SWIL_Voter Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 11:45 am
In regards to people having a right to sleep outdoors, there was a federal judicial ruling - Martin v. Boise - about five years ago. It basically said if you don’t provide places to sleep indoors you can’t ban sleeping outdoors.
Comment by City Guy Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 11:51 am
“How do these people have the money”
How much money do you have to have to walk?
They aren’t taking chartered and catered busses to the US border. They are walking. Hundreds and hundreds of miles.
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 11:54 am
== They have an established protected legal right to seek asylum. If you can’t understand the basic facts about this, you aren’t being productive at all.==
Sir with all due respect…I don’t think you know what you are talking about, as I can see that you have used refugee in the incorrect context. Of course Joe Biden did not decide this, the INA and Refugee Act speaks for itself. Asylum seeker is not a guaranteed, permanent status and many of the people being referenced will ultimately be denied and put into removal proceedings, because economic inconvenience is not a legal case for asylum. There is an established right to seek asylum, but the sanctuary status makes it possible to receive services that would have otherwise been denied. Would you to go a place without family or friends where you knew you would receive nothing because you do not have a status?
Comment by LastModDemStanding Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 12:00 pm
===Refugees are here legally, and not just because Joe Biden decided it. They have an established protected legal right to seek asylum. If you can’t understand the basic facts about this, you aren’t being productive at all.—
This is worth repeating. If you don’t understand this concept, please don’t comment on this topic. The rest of us would like to have an intelligent discussion about an important issue.
Go back to Facebook with your uninformed nonsense.
Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 12:03 pm
What law is the bus company violating? Like a parking law? Because you can charter a bus to take you from one spot to another, and I can’t think of any reason why that would be illegal.
To Rich’s point, it would be infinitely better if there’s communication between all the parties involved, but going straight to “Is this thing I don’t like legal” seems off.
Comment by Perrid Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 12:08 pm
@ LastModDemStanding
With all due respect, you seem to assume much about asylum seekers and refugees knowledge of the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 as well as subsequent U.S. legislation.
They are coming here for proper and for moral reason. We are obligated to evaluate their claims, and to admit some permanently should their claims be just and legal.
We should not pontificate against the poor, the tired, the huddled masses, lest we reject our own grounds for being here.
Finding a solution is the only approach that matters. This problem is not going away, and currently we cannot manage the flow of people seeking to become what our grandparents became.
Comment by H-W Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 12:21 pm
Why is there a presumption that everyone arriving in the city has some type of legal status. Interesting that DHS Secretary now wants to finish the wall.
Comment by Spooky32 Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 12:43 pm
===Why is there a presumption that everyone arriving in the city has some type of legal status.===
Then you’d agree that the Feds should hold people until information is gathered and status can be determined, no different than requiring someone to, say, vote?
The Feds need to work in conjunction with the border states and have a staging area, a short term processing that also allows for scheduled movement of human beings in a humane way with a knowledge that isn’t gathered now.
That requires a want to do such a thing with federal funding to accomplish it… and the buy-in from 5 states outside of the one named Texas.
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 12:47 pm
SWIL - no, it’s not just spending money, it’s also offering non-monetary cooperation. And while it’s true that the migrants are here legally as long as they check the asylum application checkbox, it’s a farce: we have 125,000 asylum openings for the entire world, and they’re intended for people being persecuted, not fleeing violence and poverty. Everyone knows that the vast majority are either not going to “self-deport” if their claims are denied (if they even show up for the hearing). And is there an explanation for why these migrants should get asylum simply because of their proximity to the border while millions of even more worthy cases in Congo, CAR, South Sudan, etc don’t?
The solution is obvious: do whatever it takes to secure the border (walls, agents, e-verify with teeth) in exchange for one last amnesty, at least with green cards for all here and citizenship for the DREAMers. There’s a reason neither party offers it (and Gang of Eight was far from that, as shown by the neutral Congressional Budget Office evaluation of the bill).
Comment by lake county democrat Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 12:55 pm
“[I]n my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here.”
President Reagan’s Farewell address. He’d get drummed out of the Republican Party as a “Liberal” now!
Comment by Jerry Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 1:01 pm
First, the trolls who want these migrants turned away must also hate the Statue of Liberty.
We are and have always been a nation of immigrants. This is a massive opportunity being gifted to us from the Texas governor who thinks he is sticking it to us. We need to get this right.
Find the funds to get these folks a place to live and food to eat. (rainy day fund???)
Hire those who are bilingual in English to help with organizing folks and getting them work permits.
Get them working. They will be the best employees these companies that are desperately looking for workers will ever have.
Offer tax credits for those that hire these immigrants.
Grow our population with highly productive people that contribute to the tax base.
We should be taking advantage of this gift and instead our “leaders” are fumbling about like a bunch of goofballs.
This issue is a solution to a real problem, not another problem.
That buys time for more infrastructure development.
Comment by JS Mill Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 1:02 pm
=== Why is there a presumption that everyone arriving in the city has some type of legal status.===
Because if they weren’t legal, Abbott wouldn’t be able to put them on the bus without breaking the law. Federal law – 8 USC 1324
Glad I could help.
Comment by Mayo Sandwich Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 1:11 pm
=== Everyone knows that the vast majority are either not going to “self-deport” if their claims are denied (if they even show up for the hearing). ===
They don’t have to self deport. ICE will do that for them.
Comment by Mr. Green Genes Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 1:20 pm
==is it legal for a commercial bus company to drop a load of passengers at any spot==
Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance likely protects bus companies transporting immigrants.
The Welcoming City Ordinance also codified local policies to help ensure undocumented residents are not prosecuted solely due to their immigration status. As such, the welcoming City protection covers Chicagoans of all ages—in school, at work and as they seek city supports and resources. This means that Chicago police officers cannot arrest on the basis of immigration status.
https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/mayor/su
pp_info/office-of-new-americans/welcoming-reports.html
Comment by Lisa Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 1:22 pm
“The solution is obvious”
The obvious solution is to allow for legal migration of many many many more people since we have a need for more workers to fill all the open jobs and more young families to stabilize our safety net programs. That’s the obvious solution. Wasting money on more walks that obviously don’t work is absurd. You can already see how well those work- they don’t.
Comment by SWIL_Voter Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 1:27 pm
===Because if they weren’t legal, Abbott wouldn’t be able to put them on the bus without breaking the law. Federal law – 8 USC 1324 ===
Thanks for posting that.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 1:33 pm
“The obvious solution is to allow for legal migration of many many many more people since we have a need for more workers to fill all the open jobs and more young families to stabilize our safety net programs. That’s the obvious solution.”
If I may add, according to the Census Bureau, 10,000 baby boomers reach 65 every day.
Comment by Da big bad wolf Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 1:52 pm
-We are and have always been a nation of immigrants-
America has for the most of its’ history welcomed immigration between 1924 and 1965 it wasn’t so welcoming. Anyway, a majority of people living in America has always been born here.
Comment by Steve Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 1:54 pm
===Anyway, a majority of people living in America has always been born here.===
Native Americans are the only ones that can claim a lineage solely “American”
If “anyways” is a thing and all
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 1:57 pm
JS Mill +1
Comment by H-W Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 1:59 pm
How do we know these are all coming from Abbott? New York says it was only a small handful.
Comment by Ernest T. Bass Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 2:15 pm
I am astonished at the silence from the Mayor and the Johnson administration. No presentation of a plan or insights into ongoing work to create solutions.
The mayor is on a fast track to destroying all good will and faith in him in just 6 months. Deputy Mayor CPZ going on the record to acknowledge that the city is overwhelmed is not enough.
Comment by DisappointedVoter Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 2:17 pm
Sigh. The idea of fixing the “root causes” in Venezuela is preposterous. By and large, these are people who had been working in Ecuador, Colombia, etc. — that’s how they have the money for transportation, coyotes, etc. — and they are coming here because the threshold for claiming asylum has dropped so much. It is supposed to be reserved for people at immediate risk of political persecution and there is no legal right to asylum because of poverty so most of these people, when their cases are actually litigated, will not be eligible. What’s more, we are not going to overthrow the Maduro government, and even if it were true that eliminating sanctions will improve their economy, that will just mean more Venezuelans with the cash to fund their migration.
Comment by Jane Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 2:22 pm
Great post JS Mill @ 1:02pm.
You hit the mail on the head.
Comment by Jerry Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 2:37 pm
The first step in flood mitigation is to stop the flow of water.
The dam was broken by the Biden Administration going all in on open borders. As long as the flood continues to flow in, the problems will continue to grow.
To expect the same people who caused the problem and encouraged the problem to have the answer to fixing the problem, will not work out.
To continue trying to distract by saying all these bus loads of people are being sent here by the Governor of Texas, when only a fraction of them are, and referring to them all as legal asylum seekers is just a way of deflecting away from the ones who are willfully flooding our country.
Comment by SOIL M Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 3:08 pm
SWIL - I’m fine with lots of immigration, including hardship cases, but 1) I want it multiethnic with deserving cases coming from all over the world, and, 2) how many immigrants and asylum cases we have has nothing to do with controlling the border. You seem to be in favor of an open border, or at least our current quasi-open one. You don’t want a wall (and I disagree with you that the current patchwork is an example of whether a wall can be effective) fine - I’ve long urged we adopt Canada and Australia’s approach. Finally, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. While the research on immigration is complicated and there’s conflicting studies out there, I think a fair minded review would show that unauthorized immigration has been a boon for the top 10%, a modest benefit for the middle class, and terrible for the working poor and underclass (and particularly for the African-American underclass), and that it has strong anti-egalitarian effects.
Again, I favor Tom Friedman’s “tall fence, wide gate” - roughly speaking I think we should have 1.5-2 million legal immigrants a year. But there *is* a limit: we’re entitled as a nation to be in control of that limit.
Comment by lake county democrat Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 3:16 pm
Chicago is top on the list of cities that Denver, CO is busing migrants.
https://coloradosun.com/2023/09/21/migrants-immigration-bus-tickets
/#:~:text=More%20than%2018%2C400%20migrants%20have%20c
ome%20to%20Denver%20since%20the,Denver%20officials%20ac
cusing%20Texas%20Gov.
Comment by Recidivist Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 3:18 pm
“and they are coming here because the threshold for claiming asylum has dropped so much.”
The threshold is the same as it was in 1986.
Comment by How about this Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 3:29 pm
To put things in perspective, it’s a flood at both borders. Comparatively speaking, it’s a trickle in Chicago.
And yes, immigration is needed by the US. Anyone who has looked at the native death and birth rates should be able to recognize that. But this uncontrolled immigration is overwhelming everyone everywhere in the US. Which is why Congress needs to act to organize things.
This was a foreseeable problem. You may or may not agree with his politics or religious bias’s, but Canadian (by birth and viewpoint) Mark Steyn in his 2006 book America Alone (subtitle The End of America as We Know It) laid out the historical rise and fall of various empires, described the economic and demographic forces behind it, and projected what would likely happen to the US. One of his conclusions was the US needed more immigration than was being allowed.
This current mess didn’t need to happen … but now that we are here, it’s past time for Washington to figure it out.
Comment by RNUG Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 3:31 pm
===even if it were true that eliminating sanctions will improve their economy, that will just mean more Venezuelans with the cash to fund their migration.===
You must be a blast at parties.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 3:38 pm
===and terrible for the working poor and underclass (and particularly for the African-American underclass), and that it has strong anti-egalitarian effects.===
What evidence do you have for that? Maybe for undocumented workers who work for pennies on the dollar in the shadows. But not for refugees with work permits that don’t have to do that. More than native born Americans, migrants start companies and hire people, which helps working class Americans.
https://news.mit.edu/2022/study-immigrants-more-likely-start-firms-create-jobs-0509
Comment by Mr. Green Genes Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 3:44 pm
I had hoped that Illinois was going to be able to pay its bills including payments to the 5 pension systems it is responsible for along with funding other state responsibilities. That hope is fading as many billions are going to be needed to take care of the growing migrant population. That is why the federal money to reimburse the state and city is so critical. I doubt we will get more than a fraction of what will be needed. Whatever is done has to be done very soon, as cold weather is not far away. Tent construction or remodeling/repairs of existing buildings takes time. As time runs short, the cost goes way up. 24/7 construction is expensive; costs will likely
include overtime/double/triple time. Heating, plumbing, electrical, fire detectors and life
safety codes should be followed. All of these things are expensive.
Comment by DuPage Thursday, Oct 5, 23 @ 4:16 pm