Illinois leaders tepid about more quick funding for Chicago’s migrant crisis

State leaders on Thursday threw more cold water on the prospect of quickly providing new funding to help Chicago’s migrant crisis as Mayor Brandon Johnson also grapples with resistance from aldermen who have declined to identify land in their wards for Johnson’s plans to set up tent base camps for new asylum-seekers before winter.

During an appearance with Gov. J.B. Pritzker, House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch said Chicago will not see a state grant for asylum-seekers in the fall veto session, when Springfield will have the option of designating additional funding for the fiscal year that ends June 30. That means the state might not provide more substantial financial help on migrants until legislators reconvene in the spring.

“I think I made it clear that we were not expecting to do a supplemental budget in the veto session,” Welch said regarding his meeting last week with Johnson at City Hall.

But as Johnson unveiled a 2024 budget Wednesday that included only $150 million in migrant funding — less than half the projected costs this year — it’s clear his administration is counting on outside help. Pritzker punted to the federal government, which both he and Johnson have said need to do more to help Chicago and other cities across the nation seeing a massive influx of migrants.

“I don’t know how they came up with their number,” Pritzker said about Johnson’s proposed allocation for new arrivals. “We’re finding resources wherever we can and supporting the city and surrounding communities and others who are impacted by the influx of asylum-seekers. … But as I’ve said, we’ve asked the federal government for additional assistance.”

Welch echoed the call for federal support, noting that in his conversation with Johnson last week, “one thing that we completely agreed on was that this is a national crisis that’s going to call for a national response, that we need the White House to step up and do more on this issue.”

U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth and Democratic members of the Illinois congressional delegation joined that call Thursday, sending a letter to President Joe Biden calling for more federal funding for Chicago and Illinois, along with other assistance.

“State and local officials have worked tirelessly to serve these new arrivals, and the federal government must swiftly provide assistance and resources that reflect this administration’s commitment to safe, orderly, and humane immigration processes,” they wrote.

Meanwhile, Johnson’s deputy chief of staff, Cristina Pacione-Zayas, acknowledged the lack of buy-in from many aldermen who were asked to find locations to house migrants in the administration’s race against time before winter.

In September, Johnson rolled out his plan to house new migrants in winterized base camps rather than the Chicago police stations and airports where many are currently huddled. He tasked all 50 aldermen to help scout suitable locations. Pacione-Zayas told reporters Thursday only “about 25%” of them have fulfilled that request.

“We’ve had some of them that understood the assignment,” Pacione-Zayas said. “We’ve had others that, with their back against the wall, have now offered up things, but it’s a work in progress.”

The September briefing to aldermen included example photos of large tent structures in New York City that would house incoming asylum-seekers. Part of the presentation instructed each alderman: “Assist with identifying 2-3 suitable sites in ward.”

Requirements for the “building” or “land” include being able to shelter at least 200 people, requiring “little to no repair” and having either access to showers or the ability to support a shower trailer. Pacione-Zayas did not elaborate on which aldermen have cooperated.

Since former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration, City Council members across the geographic and political spectrum have bristled over the placement of migrant shelters in their wards. The concerns have included outrage from some Black aldermen that the city is housing and feeding new arrivals within their wards when longtime residents have been denied resources for years.

Downtown aldermen have bristled over the largest shelter, the Inn of Chicago, driving away tourism due to reports of loitering and other criminal activity. Others have said their issue lies with not being given a heads-up from the administration about incoming shelters in their wards.

Pacione-Zayas acknowledged those tensions Thursday but said that “frankly, when we don’t know how many buses are coming, when they’re coming, nor the composition. … It is difficult to have enough of a runway and lead time to be able to afford the community weeks’ advance notice.”

With the cold setting in and migrants starting to prop up their own small tents outside police stations, the city is also planning “emergency staging shelters” with the help from faith leaders, Pacione-Zayas said.

“We’re finalizing some details around that,” Pacione-Zayas said when asked about the ongoing base camp proposal. “It’s imminent.”

She added that she doesn’t see Welch’s denial of migrant funding in the veto session as a closed door, and said the city appropriating only $150 million in next year’s budget for migrants is “an acknowledgment that this is a shared responsibility.”

“Just because there isn’t necessarily a supplemental (appropriation) on the horizon — and I mean, I think those discussions are still happening — there’s ways that there can be funds redirected to the city,” Pacione-Zayas said.

Asked to elaborate, Pacione-Zayas said the city is not asking for Springfield to make budget cuts per se but to look at a “reapplication” of certain state funds, such as money allocated from the Department of Human Services budget for welcoming centers that help guide new arrivals to services regardless of immigration status.

But reallocating funds from a state program to the city still would require legislative approval, and it remains unclear whether the appetite to do so exists among the Democrats who control the legislature.

Pacione-Zayas said the mayor’s trip to the U.S. southern border, while not yet publicly scheduled, is still planned. The No. 1 goal is to clinch tighter bus coordination with Texas officials, she said.

“It wouldn’t be right if we did not let folks know the limitations that we have when we do not receive information in advance,” she said. “That’s our objective, is to say to them: ‘Look, here’s what we’re managing up here.’”