The state of Illinois is doubling down on its support for illegal immigrants.
In a Friday press release, Gov. JB Pritzker and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle confirmed that they would allocate a further $250 million to “ensure shelter, wraparound services and healthcare remain available” to migrants who have crossed the southern border through Texas.
The release states:
Following a long-term planning exercise, State, County and City teams concluded that an additional estimated $321 million is needed to maintain shelter and services this calendar year, on top of previously committed funding. The Governor and President are pledging a combined investment of over $250 million to help close this gap.
In November, the State of Illinois committed an additional $160 million to the asylum seeker response to invest in three critical areas: welcome, shelter, and independence. That commitment was in addition to the $478 million the State has spent since the start of the response. As part of the joint funding plan, the State is pledging an additional $182 million, which will be part of the Governor’s upcoming Fiscal Year 2025 budget proposal to the General Assembly.
Pritzker hailed the plan as proof of the state’s commitment to supporting so-called asylum seekers in their time of need. “With thousands of asylum seekers continuing to come to Chicago in desperate need of support and with Congress continuing to refuse to act—it is clear the state, county, and city will have to do more to keep people safe,” he remarked.
Out of Control’: Illegal Migrants Get Physical With Volunteers in Chicago pic.twitter.com/tKJb6rUMhW
— DC Shorts (@theDCshorts) February 10, 2024
Preckiwinkle described the situation as a “humanitarian crisis” as hundreds more illegals descend on the city of Chicago every week. “As critical funding for this ongoing humanitarian crisis stalls in Congress, Cook County stands committed to the well-being of the region,” he explained. “We cannot wait for additional resources and Cook County is proud to stand alongside Governor Pritzker in this joint funding plan, ensuring that shelter capacity, healthcare and wraparound services remain accessible to those in need.”
Chicago has spent $194.5 million on migrant-related vendors from October 2022 to the present month while the city looks like Third World City.
America Wake Up, Democrats Don’t Care For You! pic.twitter.com/YpDJxzpfwZ
— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) February 15, 2024
The statement notes that around 35,000 illegals have arrived in Chicago from Texas as part of an effort led by Gov. Greg Abbott to force Democratic states that support open borders to carry the burden of looking after the millions of people flooding across the border every year. “This joint funding plan will maintain shelter capacity as well as the continuation of wraparound and healthcare services,” it notes. “More than 35,000 asylum seekers have been inhumanely dropped off in the City of Chicago and surrounding suburbs over the last year and a half.”
However, Pritzker has previously pleaded with Abbott to stop the flow of illegals on the basis that the cold Chicago winters will cost lives. “I am pleading with you to at least pause these transports in order to save lives,” Pritzker wrote in a letter last year. “I plead with you for mercy for the thousands of people who are powerless to speak for themselves. Please, while winter is threatening vulnerable people’s lives, suspend your transports and do not send more people to our state.”
Abbott, meanwhile, has confirmed the transportation to sanctuary cities, including Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and Denver, will continue unless Democrats make the decision to finally secure the southern border. “Texas has transported over 102,000 migrants to sanctuary cities,” he wrote on the X platform last month. “Overwhelmed Texas border towns should not bear the brunt of Biden’s open border policies. Our transportation mission will continue until Biden secures the border.”
