Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is the latest progressive Democrat calling on the Biden administration to address the illegal immigration crisis as he struggles to handle the influx in the Windy City.
“Without real, significant investment from our federal government, it won’t just be the city of Chicago that won’t be able to maintain this mission,” Johnson said during a Wednesday appearance on CNN.
“It’s the entire country that is now at stake,” he added, noting that he has pleaded with the administration for more resources.
“We have roughly 15,000 people living in shelters, temporary shelters, here in Chicago,” Johnson said. “Nearly 27 shelters total. And 4,500 children in our Chicago public schools system, providing health care, also making sure that we are screening individuals as they come through the city of Chicago, providing, again, on-site vaccinations at all of our shelters. And this certainly has been a remarkable challenge that my administration has had to face.”
Johnson said he believes there needs to be more “coordination” between all levels of government.
“Since taking office, we’ve had an uncoordinated approach,” the progressive argued. “And what I have worked to do, instead of having chaos, is provide some structure and calm around the situation. And without significant federal support, this is not sustainable.”
BREAKING: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson says "the entire country" is "now at stake" because of illegal immigration.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 27, 2023
Gee, if only there was a group of people saying this for years on end.
In a desperate plea for funding from the federal government, Johnson said that "it won’t… pic.twitter.com/Olv4cpqbiL
👀Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson begs Biden for help with migrant crisis:
— Jennie Taer 🇮🇱🇺🇸 (@JennieSTaer) December 27, 2023
"We have reached a critical point in this mission that absent real, significant intervention immediately, our local economies are not designed and built to respond to this type of crisis." pic.twitter.com/5kHfhtMMof
Johnson also directed criticism at Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for busing migrants to sanctuary cities across the country.
“What Governor Abbott is doing is, quite frankly, it’s reckless,” the mayor said. “… We recognize that there are challenges, significant challenges at the border, and we do need real substantive immigration reform and policies that allow us to have a structure and a pathway to citizenship.
“But again, sending buses all over the state of Illinois and all over the country is reckless and, quite frankly, is dangerous.”
After Chicago started cracking down on the buses of illegal border crossers, Abbott changed his approach and started flying them in.
Sanctuary city Chicago started obstructing and targeting our busing mission.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) December 20, 2023
Texas will now expand our operation to include flights to Chicago.
Until Biden steps up to secure the border, we will continue to provide overwhelmed Texas border towns with much-needed relief. pic.twitter.com/kRoK8KBpJ2