City Council approves $51 million for migrants as officials scramble for more funds, point fingers at federal government
Thank you for supporting our journalism. This article is available exclusively for our subscribers, who help fund our work at the Chicago Tribune.Norkys Amaro, a recent arrival from Venezuela, sits with her son, Yokender, 14, on the floor where they are staying with other migrants on May 22, 2023, at the Chicago Police Department's 7th District station in the Englewood neighborhood.
Underscoring the tension between the migrants’ emergency needs and the struggling neighborhoods hurt by decades of disinvestment, Moore, 17th, opened the discussion by urging a “no” vote. His majority-Black ward has suffered with dilapidated public facilities like field houses and seniors becoming homeless because of long public housing waitlists, he said, arguing that his community needs an oxygen “mask” first.
Ald. Jeanette Taylor, 20th, delivered the discussion’s most passionate remarks on the floor as she wiped her eyes with a tissue and spoke of the historic abuse Black people have faced. Ald. Andre Vasquez, 40th, likened the push-and-pull between those Black speakers opposed to migrant funding and those who supported more aid to a “crabs in a barrel” situation. He stressed that without more revenue for both homelessness and migrants, the discord in Chicago will continue, citing both a proposed increase in the real estate transfer tax and in Chicago’s portion of Local Government Distribution Fund, which channels state income taxes to municipalities.
To make the situation more pressing, the city has been struggling to find funds from the state and federal governments. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration has said the state has spent a total of $260 million on shelter and care for asylum-seekers, but the harsh living conditions continue in Chicago.
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