Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson faced scrutiny on Wednesday over the sanctuary city’s new rule for undocumented immigrants, including families with minor children.
A reporter asked Johnson if the decision lives “up to the values of Chicago as a welcoming city,” to migrants, which is how the Democrat lawmaker has represented the Windy City.
“Well, our values are front and center. In fact, many people around the country and the globe have seen our motto and how we have provided care in this moment,” he replied.
“As you know, I’ve worked hard to bring the state, the county, and federal government together to respond to this mission.”
Johnson called it “an unsustainable mission” and placed the blame on Republican lawmakers and former President Donald Trump.
“Congress, of course, refuses to respond to President Biden’s leadership, and they refuse to enact real, substantive immigration reform policy because that’s really what we need,” he stated.
Johnson criticized “Trump Republicans” for prioritizing loyalty to a “convicted convict,” referring to conservative lawmakers’ rejection of a bipartisan Senate bill introduced in February.
Republicans pushed back that the bill would not have effectively addressed the border crisis as Democrats have claimed.
Alternately conservative lawmakers proposed the Secure the Border Act, H.R. 2, to halt illegal crossings, but Senate Democrats won’t vote on it.
Johnson noted that undocumented immigrants who reach the 60-day limit can return if space opens up in the shelters.
“55% of them do,” he claimed. “About 45% of them move on. So yes, we are still living up to our values.”
Following eviction, undocumented immigrants can come back to the city’s “landing zone” to reapply for a spot in the city’s shelters. To date, 966 undocumented immigrants have been pushed out.
Johnson asserted that Chicago provides a superior care to undocumented immigrants, that exceeds the standards of the rest of the nation.
Since 2022, over 43,000 undocumented immigrants have come to the city, which has shelled out around $400 million to provide them with services.
Meanwhile, fellow Democrat lawmaker Chellie Pingree (D-ME) wants to scale back border security and wants more migrants to be bused to her state to fill holes in the local workforce.
Pingree made the remarks during a House Appropriations Committee debate on the fiscal year 2025 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations bill.
She threw her support behind an amendment that would allocate $600 million from border fencing construction to the Shelter and Services Program, which is run by FEMA, and would fund migrant housing and expenses.
“This funding is particularly important to one of the cities that I represent, the city of Portland, Maine,” Pingree began.
“You know, we all talk about big cities like New York, and we all have all kinds of concerns about this, but let’s be clear: In my state, this funding is critically important to supporting our city, which has been very welcoming to asylum seekers.”
Pingree said that immigrants were coming over the border during the Trump administration, and said that Maine, the “whitest and oldest state” in the nation, was experiencing a “tremendous” shortage of workers.
She challenged fellow members of congress to meet with their local chambers of commerce, who she believes will tell them their “biggest issue” is finding workers to fill vacant jobs.
Pingree also claimed that the migrants are “not illegal people” and had applied for asylum, but are forced to wait six months to receive a work permit, which causes cities to have to support them.
“So as far as I’m concerned, this is just a common sense way to deal with the number of asylum seekers who want to come into our country today, and we should continue to support it,” she said about the Democrat proposed program.
Mister mayor, had it occurred to you that your regime leader could undo what he did when he opened the borders wide open? I know it’s not part of your marxist narrative, but on January 21, 2021, the southern border was secure. A month later, disaster. Nobody in your city is buying what you are selling.
Since you have spoken true words Trish, it won’t matter to these modern day democrats. All they know is to obey the will (& big money) of the anti-American globalists who pour billions into America’s demise. They lie, steal, deal & kill because there are no consequences. Our biggest threat is the corrupt media and the sheep who believe them.
That “leadership” that “Congress refuses to respond to” has led us straight into the pits of Hell, and it’s not getting any better.
Other than ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, so-called ‘asylum seekers’, NO ONE is moving TO Chicago! But, MANY are leaving there every day! I wonder why?
It is so near unbelievable that people like this ‘elected’ mayor and those of his Anti-American political party can lie so openly in the faces of people. People who are so blinded by hate, ignorance and false ideology that they freely choose to believe the lies of those who openly (like the clintons, bidens & obama’s) and the many others behind their backs, so long as it makes them feel as part of a new & ‘better’ America. And because of their ignorance they never see the truth of being used to further entrench the powers of the elite.
You Democrats caused the problem and now you want to blame the Republicans….that is so you. We Republicans/conservatives do not want to clean up the mess you have made. YOU DO IT YOURSELVES. The President has the ability to stop the mess, but he won’t. WHY?