City Council committee approves Mayor Johnson’s $70M request to fund migrants

CHICAGO—At City Hall on Monday, councilmembers considered Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan to spend more money on migrants. But a key committee initially approved the $70 million request to help with shelter and food.

In a 20-8 vote, the Budget Committee signed off following a debate that went on for hours.

But some alders want to pump the breaks.

“I have yet to see anything for my community,” said Ald. David Moore (17th Ward).

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“We’re throwing money out the window on a population of people who are coming here, and they’re living better than people who are already here,” said Ald. Anthony Beale (9th Ward).

Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd Ward)added: “There’s no found money, there’s no free money. The decisions that we make in the next couple of days about these larger buckets of monies that exist are going to have a profound impact on our ability to balance our budget in 2026 and subsequently 2027.”

For months, Mayor Johnson avoided asking the City Council to approve more funding for migrant services. He decided against making the request despite reports he promised the state and county of Chicago would authorize more.

As of Monday morning, there were 9,173 residents in 18 city and state shelters. Roughly 39,000 migrants have arrived in Chicago since August 2022.

The Johnson administration says migrant support cost the city $295 million through the end of last year.

Before the City Council got underway, Governor Pritzker urged a yes vote.

The $70 million request comes after Washington sent $19.3 million in new funding for the state and city to care for new arrivals.

As of the morning of April 15m there were 9,173 residents in 18 city and state shelters. Roughly 39,000 migrants have arrived in Chicago since August 2022.

The Johnson administration says migrant support cost the city $295 million through the end of last year.

Before the City Council got underway, Governor Pritzker urged a yes vote.

“I know there’s just generally a feeling like, ‘Hey, it’s our money. We should apply it to the people who’ve lived here for a long time.’ But the reality is it’s much better for the city and for the state if we provide basic, basic humanitarian care for people who arrive here,” Pritzker said.

Also, on Monday, there was an initial discussion of Mayor Johnson’s plan to borrow $1.25 billion for economic development and affordable housing. But the plan has been slowed down by Alderman Bill Conway who wants to shrink it and put in place more Council oversight.

“It’s no secret that there are issues of trust between the mayor’s office and City Council stemming from Brighton Park, NASCAR, ShotSpotter, GarterWord, and FavoriteStaffing, to name just a few off the top of my head,” Conway said.

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WGN News received word from Alderwoman Pat Dowell, the chair of the Budget Committee, that she plans to call the mayor’s borrowing plan for a vote on Wednesday.

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