Brandon goes to the border
-
No, not that Brandon, this Brandon.
Chicago's Mayor Brandon Johnson has vowed to visit the southern border to assess the ongoing migrant situation - as more than 15,000 have flooded into the Windy City.
The promise, made Wednesday at a press conference, comes roughly four months into the ex-Cook County commissioner's term, as sanctuary cities like his continue to grapple with waves of asylum seekers coming from Texas.
The ex-schoolteacher who succeeded Lori Lightfoot, assured attendees that he would be visiting the border 'soon' but did could not specify when.
Nearly 30 bus-loads of immigrants arrived in Chicago just last week - and that number is only set to get worse.
Johnson, 47, said as many as 22 busloads of migrants could be arriving daily - as several have been seen sleeping on the city streets.
I never understood the utility of these visits as anything other than a photo-op for grandstanding. Wanna know what's going on at the border, go to YouTube.
Or, just visit the CPD 1st District HQ, about 14 blocks south of City Hall.
Or the Sears Tower
-
The Governor - too bad, residents, we're taking your funding away.
When asked if the state would consider a supplemental appropriation to cover costs for migrants, Gov. J.B. Pritzker says Illinois government will continue to use taxpayer-funded programs already budgeted.
Chicago has seen at least 15,000 non-citizen arrivals sent to Chicago after crossing the U.S. southern border. The city and state have already spent hundreds of millions of dollars to care for the newly arrived migrants.
Pritzker was asked this week how the state plans to keep funding available for the arrivals. Pritzker said while the state budget is balanced, they do not have any extra funds and have been forced to divert taxpayer funds from other programs.
"We have taken some of the programs that have pre-existed the crisis and adjusted them to help with the migrant crisis," Pritzker said. "Let me give you one example, our rental assistance program. We have provided some of that rental assistance money, which wasn't originally intended to be about asylum seekers, for this challenge."
