While the Windy City continues to get crushed under the weight of thousands of migrants pouring into the downtown area, it appears they’ve come up with a ‘solution’. One that residents are absolutely livid over.
As the Biden administration continues to reverse policies on immigration, the number of migrants arriving in Chicago and New York has skyrocketed, leaving taxpayers to foot a staggering bill.
The Windy City is struggling with an influx of over 11,000 migrants in shelters and 4,000 staying in police stations and O’Hare International Airport after more than 18,000 have arrived in one year. To free up much-needed space, Illinois has stepped up to help cover costs for temporary housing for migrants—including $9,000 in rental assistance over a six-month period.
However, this is still not enough as Mayor Brandon Johnson explains: “This is serious… I mean this ain’t the first time you’ve heard me say how serious this dynamic is.” Even with state and federal aid contributing $42 million towards the cause so far, Johnson has had to make some difficult decisions.
Recently, he backed off plans to turn a park’s fieldhouse into a migrant shelter after protests by angry locals who argued that it provided a safe haven for local children.
In addition to providing temporary housing options such as hotel rooms or furnished apartments for individuals whose legal process may take months or longer, cities also face other financial burdens associated with accommodating new arrivals including medical care services and food expenses.
In one case study from Chicago we can see that they paid Kansas-based company Favorite Healthcare Staffing more than $7.2 million to staff migrant shelters—all within four short weeks. With hourly rates ranging from $50-$156 per hour before overtime employees were clearly being compensated handsomely however, it appears that administrative costs like hotel rooms were taken into consideration when setting those fees (such as the nurse who received almost $37k for two weeks’ worth of work).
Moreover Mayor Johnson recently signed a contract with controversial security firm Garda World costing at least $29 million which includes bedding, meals three times daily plus security measures amongst other things. All these expenses add up quickly—New York estimates it will cost around $12 billion over three years due to similar costs they are incurring at hotels such as The Roosevelt where 3k asylum seekers are currently residing.
It’s no surprise then that many taxpayers are frustrated by these hefty bills coming out of their pockets.
At what point do we draw the line between our laws on immigration versus fiscal responsibility?
