Chicago has committed a whopping sum of $1.32 billion to migrant aid.
Courthouse News Service reports that the money is split between an additional $70 million to feed and house new migrants and $1.25 billion to create more affordable housing and economic opportunities across the city over the next five years.
The $1.25 billion represents an effort by Mayor Brandon Johnson and other city officials to move away from a developmental funding model based on tax increment financing districts.
However, the proposals were opposed by conservatives and even a few typically left-leaning councillors like Alderwoman Jeanette Taylor. Other progressives approved the additional $70 million because it was necessary to address the scale of the Windy City’s migrant crisis.
Since 2022, over 39,000 new migrants and asylum seekers have arrived in Chicago.
But the approval has fueled racial tensions in the city. Some Black alders expressed frustration on the many resources being given to new arrivals, while many Black neighbourhoods remain divested. According to city data, Chicago has spent over $310 million towards migrant aid since 2022.
Alderwoman Emma Mitts said, “I’ll be doggone, I don’t see the Black folks getting that kind of help. I don’t see my kids and my children and my neighborhood getting that type of support.”
Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez, a migrant rights advocate, denounced some of those who opposed the aid as bigots. He said, “What we see today, again, is the bigotry and the ignorance of the same people that are likely going to vote against the very same thing that they claim (to support): to put $1.2 billion dollars in the poorest areas of the city of Chicago.”
