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* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
I sent a top Democratic strategist whom I respect a copy of the Venezuelan migrant-related poll I posted for my subscribers last week.
Among other things, the M3 Strategies poll of 659 likely Chicago voters found that pluralities said they opposed “migrants being housed by the city of Chicago” (49-46), while also saying it’s time to end Chicago’s status as a sanctuary city (46-39). The poll’s margin of error was +/-3.82 percent. This is a Republican pollster, but they very accurately predicted the Chicago mayor’s race results during the first round.
Black and Latino voters really helped drive those poll results, with 49% of Black voters and 57% of Latinos opposing the city’s housing of migrants, and 51% of Black voters and 48% of Latinos saying they want to end the city’s sanctuary system. Several Latino residents have told reporters that they resent the help given to migrants when they received nothing at all after coming to the U.S. Fifty-six percent of Latino and Black voters told the pollster that the migrants made the city less safe.
“Not surprised by any of this,” the operative texted back. Indeed, plenty of Democratic legislators have been getting an earful from constituents about the problem, and not just in Chicago.
The question, he said, “is whether this is just another ‘law and order’ issue that polls well and seems persuasive but actually isn’t,” when you match up actual Republicans with Democrats. He said it would probably have more impact on Democratic primaries.
I suggested that Black voter turnout could be driven down by numbers like these. Seventy-nine percent of Black respondents told M3 Strategies that the asylum-seeker situation is “negatively affecting current Chicago residents who may be in need,” which seems to check out when looking at the strong pushback against housing migrants in Black neighborhoods. And Black turnout was already way down last year.
“Maybe,” the operative said, but added, “Elections are an eternity away with how voters’ memories operate.”
I agreed about the voter memory aspect but countered that his prediction assumes the migrant influx would be resolved a year from now. Some analysts have predicted far more migrants next year.
“Oof,” he replied.
“Support for housing migrants and positive views of the impact on the city is strongest among young, white voters on the North and Northwest sides,” the polling firm reported. Everyone else, not so much.
If this keeps up, there’s no doubt that the anger will spread to suburban communities, many of which have no local sanctuary ordinances. And the migrants have already started to arrive there.
During the uproar after Joliet Township Supervisor Angel Contreras applied for a state grant and more than just implied that he had support from the Joliet mayor and the city’s fire department when he apparently did not, news reports revealed that 2,200 asylum seekers had already been helped by the Spanish Community Center in Joliet.
Rep. Fred Crespo (D-Hoffman Estates), who chairs an appropriations committee, told me that at least one school district in his northwest Cook County district is “looking at bringing back mobile classrooms,” to help deal with the growing influx, and more are complaining that they can’t sustain the pace.
The poll makes it fairly easy to see why the governor and his administration would like to continue defining this as a Chicago administrative problem.
When asked last week about how all these folks could possibly be housed, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said, “This is a challenge I think the city has been facing since the beginning. You know, we don’t do city planning at the state level. This is, you know, a question best directed at the city.”
Pritzker added that the state has been supporting the city “as they have developed plans and as they’ve implemented them.”
What the city has actually done is floated a lot of ideas, but not implemented them and flailed all along the way. And after receiving more than $300 million in state assistance, the city is coming back for more cash, issuing demands in the news media and meeting with legislators.
Unlike Mayor Brandon Johnson, the Pritzker administration has lots of experience dealing with crises. They’re not perfect, but they did manage to help get the state through the pandemic. And Pritzker’s sharp letter to President Joe Biden last month seems to have helped push the president forward. The White House announced it will resume deportation flights to Venezuela.
Despite the governor’s words, this is no longer a Chicago-only issue. And that means the state needs to start taking more of a lead here.
The poll is here.
* Related…
From @ChicagosMayor spokesman on shelter at Amundsen Park:
“The move to Amundsen Park is currently on hold.”
— Mary Ann Ahern (@MaryAnnAhernNBC) October 10, 2023
*Hard sigh*
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 8:00 am
Sorry, comments are closed at this time.
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Would be nice to utilize the relatively lower priced housing stock in Illinois towns outside of Chicago that have schools, entry level manufacturing jobs and community colleges for these immigrants. Trying to house people with no assets in a city with incredibly high living costs seems like a misuse of funds. $30K can buy a 3 bed house rather than a year of rent for a 3 bed in Chicago.
Comment by Biker Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 8:49 am
This column hits the nail on the head.
Johnson has put his mayoralty at risk with his emphasis on making migrants his top priority. I was walking the precinct and almost every voter that I spoke to was angry about the sanctuary city policies and the expenditures for migrants. Some feel that their mayor is neglecting basic constituent services while catering to migrants.
Looking ahead, will delegates to the Democratic National Convention see tent cities when they visit Chicago?
Comment by Gravitas Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 9:03 am
@ Biker
That would make fiscal sense, but I think the anger and hostility currently being seen from Chicago residents would be amplified many magnitudes by the deep seated fear of the “other” stoked daily by Fox News and Right Wing social media into actual violence.
Comment by Chicago Blue Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 9:07 am
I’m not Blago but I am the child of immigrants. And I grew up watching the influx of Mexican, Columbian, Cuban and other Latin immigrants. All those folks, like my forebears, looked for a way to bring over more family members, and they worked hard to advocate for making those follow-on immigrations easier.
So I scratch my head when I hear Latinos getting all “crab bucket” about newer immigrants. Seems counter to my observed experience of the community.
Comment by Give Us Barabbas Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 9:12 am
Any decision is going to have an adverse reaction from someone. Knowing that, the most fiscally responsible decision makes the most sense. The lack of decision-making and crisis management by the Mayor and Governor is only exasperating the situation.
PS. With al those press conferences and cries and pleas to President Biden about getting the work permit rule extended, it seems like there would be a larger scale effort to actually help the new arrivals apply?
Comment by LastModDemStanding Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 9:16 am
= angry about the sanctuary city policies =
Did you take the opportunity to educate them about what the term “sanctuary city” actually means?
Comment by JoanP Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 9:24 am
Chicago has serious organizational and leadership issues. This is the second consecutive administration that is proving that winning and election and leading are not the same thing. Comparisons to lightfoot are going to start and that isn’t good. Johnson needs to get organized and start taking care of people, they are missing a golden opportunity.
Shame on some of these communities for their blatant bias and NIMBY attitudes. I suspect some of these groups are just very entitled and don’t want to share.
=$30K can buy a 3 bed house=
Not one fit to live in.
Comment by JS Mill Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 9:26 am
==…will delegates to the Democratic National Convention see tent cities when they visit Chicago?==
I imagine the city will work hard to keep the tent cities themselves away from the convention area. Can’t have aerial shots showing tent cities in the same shot as a multi-million dollar convention. But between the homeless tent cities and the forthcoming migrant camps, don’t be surprised when the terms Johnsonville and Bidenville start getting tossed around.
Comment by Anon324 Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 9:36 am
== If this keeps up, there’s no doubt that the anger will spread to suburban communities, many of which have no local sanctuary ordinances.==
Not to the extent Chicago does, but there have been a handful of sanctuary status type laws passed Statewide in the last few years that would apply everywhere in the State. Immigration status has been added as a protected class in parts of the State Human Rights Act, for example.
Comment by fs Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 9:40 am
===I spoke to was angry about the sanctuary city policies===
When this happened, did you indeed explain what a sanctuary city means, myths and truths, or did you agree with them out of hand?
Here’s the thing, and to the post,
The actual and perception going on isn’t what voters and residents are happy with, and the narratives towards the negativity only fuels the already deteriorating situation happening in real time.
This is a huge part, where Rich closes…
===Despite the governor’s words, this is no longer a Chicago-only issue. And that means the state needs to start taking more of a lead here.===
While on television Pritzker has pushed back and put onus on the administration, we are well past angst and anxieties, there needs to be a national plan to respond, pay, and organize, helping the migrants, cities, and states.
Walkin’ around and merely doing the “- A Guy -“ routine “walking my precinct in gathering intelligence, if it’s to fuel more resentment and anger for its own sake…
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 9:42 am
Both a Chicagoan and the child and grandchild of WW2 refugees. The opposition to helping these poor people upsets me greatly. The mayor promised there was enough for everyone. That appears to have been an empty promise.
Comment by DS Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 9:55 am
===I spoke to was angry about the sanctuary city policies===
When this happened, did you indeed explain what a sanctuary city means, myths and truths, or did you agree with them out of hand?==
Do tell, Willy. What does a sanctuary city mean? What are the myths and truths?
Comment by phocion Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 9:56 am
Currently the plan is to house 1,600 immigrants in winterized tents for $30M. For that same $30M, you can buy 600 Illinois houses @ $50K each or to JS Mills point, you could buy 600 Illinois homes @ $30K each and spend $12M bringing them up to code (HVAC, roof, electric, plumbing, etc). In general, the plan must include the rest of Illinois in order to be sustainable. And last I read, rural Illinois communities were losing population. I’d rather live in a house than a winterized tent.
Comment by Biker Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 10:00 am
= $30K can buy a 3 bed house =
Good luck with that.
Zillow won’t let me put in $30K as a maximum price, so I had to go with $50K. I got 365 results. About 100 of those were auctions, so no telling what they’d go for. Fewer than 100 were 30K or less.
Looking at those, I found none that didn’t look like they needed at least that much in addition to make them habitable.
Comment by JoanP Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 10:02 am
The biggest thing that Pritzker can do is keep the pressure on Biden to take the border crisis seriously. It’s not cruel to have an orderly immigration policy.
Comment by Chicagonk Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 10:05 am
===Do tell===
Welp, the Texas governor, without any coordination or want to have a national policy on handling migrants puts other states and cities in position of scoring points, politically, with no regard to human beings.
How’s that? Start there.
Why won’t Texas work with NM, AZ, CA, NY, and IL put pressures on the administration?
Don’t look to Newsmax or FoxNews for that answer, because the politics is about owning “sanctuary city and states” instead of “let’s set up a 21st century ‘Ellis Island’ clearing house to get documentation, orderly movement, and places ready to carry the burden”
I grant you the months and months of delayed work locally to the issue is part and parcel with the local angst, but it’s an odd flex to first be “well, they asked for it” and then complain “look what’s happened”
Ya just said they asked for it, now you’re angry it happened?
Unhelpful.
Lots of work needs to be done, coordinated, and with the commonality of goal.
If that’s not fair, spend more time in church.
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 10:05 am
Not using the Amundsen park house is the trade the administration makes with the Alderman for the One Fair Wage vote.
The Governor should step up and in to crisis plan. Even though conditions are different (McCormick is open for business, for example) the planning and executing is something well within IEMA’s capabilities.
Comment by Chicago Voter Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 10:08 am
Migrants are here legally as their asylum cases are processed. Being a sanctuary city has nothing to do with that. If you’re in a non-sanctuary city, local police don’t have the ability to arrest and deport migrants.
Texas isn’t bussing migrants here because Chicago is a sanctuary city. Their governor is doing it because it scores cheap political points and adds fuel to the fire. He’s also doing it using federal funding without clear leadership from the Biden administration.
The feds need to waive the fees for work permits and expedite their processing. Chicago and the surrounding suburbs have a work shortage and these people have travelled a long way to build a new life. The Biden Administration is obstructing that and causing financial strain to the states and local governments because of political fear.
Comment by NIU Grad Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 10:11 am
==This is the second consecutive administration that is proving that winning and election and leading are not the same thing. Comparisons to lightfoot are going to start and that isn’t good. ==
Completely agree. Spending all this money on migrants when their communities have longstanding needs is not helping Johnson on the south and west sides…
Comment by low level Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 10:13 am
A suggestion is to get Illinois Dept. of Employment Security involved. They should be able to help link refugees with employment. This could also include coordination with moving to a part of Illinois where there is high demand for workers.
Comment by City Guy Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 10:15 am
JoanP, filtering on Illinois for Zillow between $30K and $50K for a 2 bed 1 bath I’m seeing 400 properties. Let’s say we’d only buy these 400 properties and fix them up as needed with the remaining $10-$15M. At 4 people to a house you’ve housed 1,600 people. I remain convinced that’s a better plan than winterized tents.
Comment by Biker Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 10:15 am
=== They should be able to help link refugees with employment===
Only after they’ve paid for and then filled out all the federal paperwork and the feds process that paperwork, which can take like 6 months.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 10:20 am
===The feds need to waive the fees for work permits and expedite their processing.===
There’s already a fee waiver form (I-912). Legal aids that have been processing new arrivals for many years have used this form. There’s a massive amount of misinformation and lack of expertise in immigration law and resettlement processes in both administrations, which isn’t helping.
Comment by LastModDemStanding Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 10:37 am
==let’s set up a 21st century ‘Ellis Island’==
You don’t even need to go back that far. The Mariel boatlift took place 50 years ago.
Comment by Jocko Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 10:44 am
Polling about “sanctuary” legislation is actively misleading the respondents — the vast majority of recent migrants are asylum seekers, who are here legally and don’t rely on sanctuary city/state protections.
Elected officials who like the attention introducing DOA bills to revoke sanctuary city/state ordinances, fine, whatever. That’s their cartoonishly racist schtick and we all know that and expect it from the usual suspects.
But including it in the poll question is just amplifying the dog whistle for free, and is pretty disqualifying of the pollster right out of the gate.
Comment by Chintelligentsia Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 10:46 am
= filtering on Illinois for Zillow between $30K and $50K for a 2 bed 1 bath I’m seeing 400 properties. =
Ah, we’re moving the goalposts. You said “$30K can buy a 3 bed house”.
Comment by JoanP Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 10:53 am
- Jocko -
You’re not wrong where my disagreement sits, it’s the large scale staging and overall overwhelming numbers to process, I chose what I chose to put into focus the scale and length these plans need to reflect.
Like this…
=== === They should be able to help link refugees with employment===
Only after they’ve paid for and then filled out all the federal paperwork and the feds process that paperwork, which can take like 6 months.===
The challenges of employment, for example, is vast to this endeavor, one example…
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 11:05 am
This is a genuine question: Where is the Venezuelan tag coming from? I have not read anywhere that these people are all or even majority from Venezuela. Have I missed that?
Comment by Wobblies United Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 11:11 am
Another day another story about the migrants coming to Illinois.
I agree that the Gov and his team should step in and take over.
The Mayor, SDG, Potter, and CRR aren’t ready for prime time. They haven’t even staffed up enough to handle day-to-day basic issues, much less this crisis. They have been more focused on DSA-based issues than actually governing.. Elections and throwing rocks is easy, governing and doing work is hard. Ask Bruce Rauner. BJ’s floor leader is now focused on Palestine?
Also, when is the mayor going to go to one of these town hall meetings instead of letting his alderman keep getting slammed?
Comment by Frida's boss Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 11:12 am
JoanP, do you prefer the winterized tent plan? I appreciate that you didn’t find many 3 bedroom houses for $30K that are move-in ready to your standards. Most of them are not to mine either. However, they exist. As you and JS Mills pointed out, m$50K gets you a better condition home, so I responded to that and found 400 homes between $30K and $50K on Zillow in Illinois. The objective of the post is to find logical housing solutions in the face of massive relocations for people without economic resources. The housing in Illinois is objectively cheaper outside of Chicago, by orders of magnitude. I say 10X, you say 3X. There’s many school and community college districts with excess capacity across the state. The economy is doing well, and there’s a large manufacturing base in Illinois that requires entry level workers. If you were put in charge of $30M to aid in housing 1,600 immigrants, how would you spend those funds?
Comment by Biker Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 11:15 am
===They haven’t even staffed up enough to handle day-to-day basic issues, much less this crisis===
It’s truly pathetic.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 11:15 am
I think the flailing is about to get worse.
Johnson announced the tent plan a month ago, but the best I can tell, there have been no details since about when the tents will go up and where they’ll be placed, except for one vague reference to a parking lot at 115th and Halsted. The number of migrants slated for shelter in the “base camps” will be much higher than what’s been proposed for sites like Amundsen Park. Imagine the local resistance that will stir up.
Comment by TNR Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 11:51 am
Both are true, and they can be true to the ongoing problem;
This is a national crisis that being exacerbated with unhelpful and uncoordinated moves with little regard to human beings.
The sheer lack of preparedness, thoughtfulness, and planning all these past weeks and months continues and these failures are hurting the local aspect of the crisis.
It’s important to the micro and macro because this is a humanitarian crisis, about the lives of people, not an object or idea, it’s people.
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 11:59 am
You people arguing about buying houses for 1600 are not dealing with reality. Over 1000 migrants are arriving in a single day. Over 10,000 are currently in shelters. Your numbers are just meaningless and no, we don’t go around buying houses for people that have been here and poor for years so it’s simply not going to happen.
Comment by Lurker Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 12:04 pm
Good David Roeder column from yesterday that features more city flailing and delves into a question I’ve been asking about the search for shelter for the migrants: what about the convents and rectories at the dozens of closed Chicago Archdiocese churches and schools? Looks like those facilities have been offered but it got bogged down by who would provide security.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2023/10/9/23906258/chicago-migrant-crisis-churches-mosques-synagogues
Comment by Telly Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 12:08 pm
@- Biker - Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 11:15 am:
=== m$50K gets you a better condition home… The housing in Illinois is objectively cheaper outside of Chicago, by orders of magnitude. I say 10X, you say 3X.===
You’re kidding of course. There are reasons for houses being abandoned, and Chicago has plenty of boarded-up/abandoned/condemned houses of their own.
Comment by DuPage Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 12:08 pm
===Have I missed that? ===
Yes.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 12:14 pm
=== they are missing a golden opportunity.===
You are correct about leaders missing a golden opportunity. Refugees improve the economies of their host countries. For America, refugees who have been here 20 years have a median income of $71,400 a year. Working-age refugees in the US contribute on average $21,000 more in taxes than they receive in benefits in their first 20 years in the country.
Consider that 10,000 baby boomers reach 65 every single day in the US. Among Venezuelan refugees and asylum seekers, 57% of adults 25 years or older have bachelors degrees. Of Ukrainian refugees 56% have bachelor’s degrees or higher. 35% of US born 25 years or older have bachelor’s degrees or higher.
We need these highly skilled people as Americans retire.
Refugees are also more likely to start businesses and hire Americans.
Comment by 17% Solution Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 12:22 pm
JB isn’t blameless - his free health care for migrants is a magnet for more people wanting to come and remain in Zillinois
Comment by Sue Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 12:36 pm
==YES===
Is there data that shows this?
Comment by Wobblies United Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 12:54 pm
===Is there data that shows this? ===
The comments section is not Google. Try using it before posting here. Or, you know, click on the link provided in another post today.
Don’t be lazy.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 12:55 pm
=his free health care for migrants is a magnet for more people wanting to come and remain in Zillinois=
In Illinois this means population and economic growth.
You can thank JB via christmas card or something. That would be the classy move.
Comment by JS Mill Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 1:28 pm
DuPage- then why not use the $30M to revamp existing housing stock in Chicago for this purpose? A tent camp is wildly uncreative to me. McCormick place at least has central heating and will exist in the future. Long term, a tent camp is not something that helps build wealth or contributes to community engagement.
Comment by Biker Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 1:29 pm
I doubt the billionaire governor stepping in and taking charge is going to be received well by the 5th Floor.
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 2:08 pm
JS Mill- I guess based on your statement- Illinois and Chicago don’t need any Fed funding as the migrants are adding to growth and prosperity. I have a bridge to sell you. These folks need hundreds of millions of aid if not billions. They have no way to pay their way but I love all the growth. You truly are living in a fabtasy
Comment by Sue Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 2:10 pm
==his free health care for migrants==
And what would you suggest we do? Deny them healthcare?
Comment by Demoralized Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 2:12 pm
===I doubt the billionaire governor…===
Billionaire, Pauper…
Governor > Mayor
That’s the ball game. Ask Daley about Edgar and that dynamic.
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 2:14 pm
Demoralized- the a governor is treating these undocumented folks who shouldn’t be here in the first place better then tax paying residents. Ask the folks on the South side how they feel about the Gov and Mayors migrant policies
Comment by Sue Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 2:21 pm
I am with Telly, and use all the vacant CPS properties. THey could’ve been working on these properties for 6 months but instead they are waiting for the Feds to bail them out.
Comment by James the Intolerant Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 2:22 pm
===governor is treating these undocumented folks who shouldn’t be here in the first place better then tax paying residents===
If you want to sleep on a police station floor with no money, depending on the kindness of strangers for food and clothing and laundry, have at it, Sue. I wish you nothing but the best.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 2:38 pm
@- Biker - Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 1:29 pm:
===DuPage- then why not use the $30M to revamp existing housing stock in Chicago for this purpose? A tent camp is wildly uncreative to me. McCormick place at least has central heating and will exist in the future. Long term, a tent camp is not something that helps build wealth or contributes to community engagement.===
It’s too late for that, it would take many months.
They have days, not months to get it done.
The Catholic schools have offered the city use of vacant school buildings for free. I think it was not received well by the mayor because they are a school system with non-union teachers. The mayor used to be the head of the teachers union. It seems like he is holding a grudge against them.
Four Walmart stores in Chicago recently closed. Chicago should see about buying or leasing the empty stores and using them to house some of the migrants. Additional capacity could be tent cities in the parking lots.
The state might have national guard armories that could have parking lots or empty storage lots. The governor could allow the city to use these to set up the mayor’s tent city.
Comment by DuPage Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 2:52 pm
==use all the vacant CPS properties==
Say you were living in a struggling neighborhood with one of these schools that were vacant for ten years. Nothing happens. No outside party buys it, no repurposing for a community center, nada. Then all of a sudden, people from outside the neighborhood appear and the city bends over backwards to accommodate them in the same building they neglected all these years. How would you feel?
Comment by City Zen Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 3:34 pm
- The state might have national guard armories that could have parking lots or empty storage lots. The governor could allow the city to use these to set up the mayor’s tent city. -
The guard also has equipment and personnel for dealing with crises like this. This is the one time I fully support deploying the guard to Chicago and wherever else we can house these people. It’s getting cold, there isn’t time for bickering in the press.
Comment by Excitable Boy Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 3:43 pm
This has so many laers to it. Biden’s hands may be tied regarding funding, but speeding up work permits will be a big help (in 2 years when they become tax payers instead of recipients). From a Sun-Times article, does the City owe the Arch Diocese a call or is it vice-versa? Is the R-F-P actually out for social service orgs to run migrant facilities? From me, are City Council members being consulted before decisions are made? Has the IL Municipal League been called to see what communities might want to assist in housing migrants? Is the wedge between African-American and Hispanic elected officials in Chicago toxic yet? Seems inevitable. Those are on my mayor. Speeches will not solve this. Finally, are he and JB really talking this through? Doesn’t sound like it. I wonder how Daley or Rahm would approach this situation? This and crime will define Johnson when he is up for reelection.
Comment by levivotedforjudy Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 3:58 pm
==these undocumented folks who shouldn’t be here in the first place==
By the way. They aren’t undocumented. They are migrants here legally under those rules.
Comment by Demoralized Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 4:05 pm
===If you want to sleep on a police station floor with no money, depending on the kindness of strangers for food and clothing and laundry, have at it, Sue. I wish you nothing but the best.===
Better then on the street like Chicago’s existing unhoused population.
Comment by McMenry Mike Tuesday, Oct 10, 23 @ 10:59 pm