Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson cites differences on migrant response for failure to pitch in on latest state, Cook County funding plan

CHICAGO — Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on Thursday pledged to seek more than $250 million in additional funding for Chicago’s migrant response, about $70 million short of what officials estimate will be needed this year.

The announcement from Pritzker’s office did not mention any contributions from the city of Chicago, and Mayor Brandon Johnson spent a post-City Council news conference denying there was a rift between him and other levels of government, while also defending the city’s reluctance thus far to fill in the $70 million gap.

State, county and city officials project $321 million is needed to keep the migrant operation — including the city’s costly shelter system — afloat through the end of 2024, according to the governor’s office.

The mayor told reporters his administration remains in talks with Pritzker and Preckwinkle’s teams but hinted at differences on how to respond to the crisis — including the ongoing strife over who should be in charge of the mission to house and feed the asylum-seekers.

“There are a number of matters that need to be worked through,” Johnson said when pressed about the lack of a financial commitment from the city. “It’s not just about financial resources. As I’ve said before, right now the city of Chicago is solely responsible for providing emergency temporary shelter. … Remember the state, they’ve committed to 2,000 beds back in November? Do you remember that?”

Johnson was referring to the $65 million Pritzker previously pledged for a massive winterized tent encampment that never materialized. The mayor also said that despite the potential for an additional $250 million in state and county funding, the city is still on track to close shelters in the long run amid “financial restraints.”

He said he could not guarantee the funding would even carry the city’s migrant response through the summer — which is when the pace of migrant buses sent from Texas’ Republican governor is expected to ramp up ahead of the Democratic National Convention in late August.

A source familiar with talks on the migrant response among city, county and state officials said Johnson initially agreed to provide additional funding but later backed off, a characterization the mayor bristled at during Thursday’s news conference.

“No one in this city — let’s make it broader. No one in the state of Illinois, in this country, is questioning Mayor Brandon Johnson’s commitment to this mission,” he said. “No one is.”

But Pritzker’s office appeared to be doing just that in pointing out the city’s failure to join in on the latest funding plan.

“The governor agreed to step up and cover more than half of this cost at $182 million,” Pritzker spokesperson Jordan Abudayyeh said. “The county president also stepped up to cover an additional $70 million. You will have to ask the city what their plans are for the remaining $70 million that all parties have agreed is needed to fund this humanitarian response.”

The migrant crisis has been marked by several instances of tension between Pritzker and Johnson. In December, the governor scrapped Johnson’s plan to build a migrant camp on a Southwest Side lot over environmental concerns. Last month, Pritzker said he was “deeply concerned” about the mayor’s decision to hold off on opening new shelters.

Pritzker said he will propose $182 million for migrant assistance as part of the fiscal year 2025 budget, which goes into effect July 1, while Preckwinkle said she will work with her County Board to come up with $70 million. Pritzker is scheduled to give his budget address in Springfield on Wednesday. His proposals will have to be approved by the General Assembly, where Senate President Don Harmon, an Oak Park Democrat, has expressed resistance to funding migrants as a standalone issue.

“With thousands of asylum-seekers continuing to come to Chicago in desperate need of support and with Congress continuing to refuse to act—it is clear the state, county, and city will have to do more to keep people safe,” Pritzker said in a statement.

Since August 2022, the state said it has directed about $640 million to deal with the influx of some 35,000 migrants, most of them bused to Chicago from Texas, including $160 million that was announced in November. The money was aimed at providing more robust legal and employment assistance and relieving pressure on Chicago’s shelter system that was hampering efforts to connect migrants with housing and jobs through the construction of a centralized intake center.

Johnson allocated $150 million in his 2024 budget for the city’s migrant response, though he and others acknowledged that amount will likely be insufficient for the mounting costs to care for the asylum-seekers. Over the past several months, the mayor’s office announced they could no longer open new shelters as the money was quickly dwindling. City officials recently projected the $150 million would run out by April, saying that all options were on the table to address that fiscal cliff.

While the number of migrants arriving to the city has dropped in recent weeks, Abudayyeh noted arrival numbers can ebb and flow regularly and that the state funding is necessary to anticipate more migrants arriving to the city in the coming months, especially during the remainder of winter.

“If we could get through this year and less people come, that would be the best solution,” she said. “But we have to plan for what we think could be ahead of us.”

Experts who study immigration trends say a drop in border crossings is typical for this time of year but there’s no indication of how numbers may look in a few weeks or months.

In any event, the situation remains chaotic. A single shelter on the Lower West Side is housing over 2,200 migrants, many in dire need of food and shelter. Ninoska Rivas, 34, said she got to Chicago 15 days ago with her husband and seven children on a bus from Texas. She hasn’t been able to find work and her kids haven’t enrolled in school.

“The only people who get rental assistance are those who got here three months ago,” she said Thursday. “We don’t know what to do. It’s crowded and the food is bad inside the shelter. It was so cold this morning.”

This year’s county budget included more than $100 million for new arrival costs, largely for health care spending. Cook County Health has been spending roughly $1.5 million to $2.5 million a month to provide physicals, testing and lab services, vaccinations, behavioral health screenings and counseling, prescriptions and follow-up visits, as well as transport to appointments.

A late budget amendment included in the county’s 2024 budget created an emergency fund largely dedicated to the migrant mission, including $70 million that could be tapped for new arrival health care and $20 million set aside to compensate municipal or local government costs involving migrant care.

Late last month, Preckwinkle said officials had yet to tap into that emergency fund and that suburban officials had not taken her up on a request to provide shelter space to supplement Chicago’s efforts.

Given the current run rate of the county’s health care spending, it’s unclear what the $70 million in additional funding would entail. County officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“As critical funding for this ongoing humanitarian crisis stalls in Congress, Cook County stands committed to the well-being of the region,” Preckwinkle said in Thursday’s news release. “We cannot wait for additional resources, and Cook County is proud to stand alongside Governor Pritzker in this joint funding plan, ensuring that shelter capacity, health care and wraparound services remain accessible to those in need.”

In addition to possible resistance from his fellow Democrats in the legislature, Pritzker’s proposal for additional state funding was already being criticized by Republican legislative leadership, with House Republican leader Tony McCombie of Savanna saying that the Pritzker administration said “four weeks ago” that the state didn’t have money for “basic care for our developmentally disabled.”

“Now he has $182 million burning a hole in his pocket,” she said. “This migrant crisis needs a long-term plan, not a blank check that disregards our most vulnerable.”

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(Chicago Tribune’s Nell Salzman contributed.)

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CHICAGO — Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on Thursday pledged more than $250 million in additional funding to deal with the migrant crisis in Chicago, while at the same time saying the state, county and city of Chicago have concluded that $321 million is needed to maintain shelter and other services this year.

The announcement from Pritzker’s office did not mention any contributions from the city of Chicago, and Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office declined to comment.

“We put together these cost projections in collaboration with the county and city,” said Pritzker’s spokesperson Jordan Abudayyeh. “The Governor agreed to step up and cover more than half of this cost at $182 million. The County President also stepped up to cover an additional $70 million. You will have to ask the city what their plans are for the remaining $70 million that all parties have agreed is needed to fund this humanitarian response.”

Pritzker said he will propose $182 million for migrant assistance as part of the fiscal year 2025 budget, which goes into effect on July 1, while Preckwinkle said she will work with her county board to come up with $70 million. Pritzker is scheduled to give his budget address in Springfield on Wednesday, and his proposals will have to be approved by the General Assembly, where Senate President Don Harmon, an Oak Park Democrat, has expressed resistance to funding migrants as a standalone issue.

“With thousands of asylum seekers continuing to come to Chicago in desperate need of support and with Congress continuing to refuse to act—it is clear the state, county, and city will have to do more to keep people safe,” Pritzker said in the release.

A source familiar with the talks said Johnson initially agreed to provide additional funding but later backed off.

Since August 2022, the state said it has directed about $640 million to deal with the influx of some 35,000 migrants, most of them bused to Chicago from Texas, including $160 million that was announced in November. The money was aimed at providing more robust legal and employment assistance and relieving pressure on Chicago’s shelter system that was hampering efforts to connect migrants with housing and jobs through the construction of a centralized intake center.

Johnson allocated $150 million in his 2024 budget for the city’s migrant response, though he and others acknowledged that amount will likely be insufficient for the mounting costs to care for the asylum seekers. Over the past several months, the mayor’s office announced they could no longer open new shelters as the money was fast dwindling. City officials recently projected the $150 million would run out by April, saying that all options were on the table to address that fiscal cliff.

While the number of migrants arriving to the city has dropped in recent weeks, Abudayyeh noted arrival numbers can ebb and flow regularly and that the state funding is necessary to anticipate more migrants still arriving to the city in the coming months, especially during the remaining part of winter.

“If we could get through this year and less people come, that would be the best solution,” she said. “But we have to plan for what we think could be ahead of us.”

The migrant crisis has been marked by several instances of tension between Pritzker and Mayor Johnson. In December, the governor scrapped Johnson’s plan to build a migrant camp on a Southwest Side lot over environmental concerns. Last month, Pritzker said he was “deeply concerned” about the mayor’s decision to hold off on opening new shelters.

This year’s county budget included more than $100 million for new arrival costs, largely for healthcare spending. Cook County Health has been spending roughly $1.5 to $2.5 million a month to provide physicals, testing and lab services, vaccinations, behavioral health screenings and counseling, prescriptions and follow up visits, as well as transport to appointments.

A late budget amendment included for the county’s 2024 budget created a new $100 million emergency fund largely dedicated to the migrant mission, including $70 million that could be tapped for new arrival health care and $20 million set aside to compensate municipal or local government costs involving migrant care.

Late last month, Preckwinkle said officials had yet to tap into that emergency fund and that suburban officials had not taken her up on a request to provide shelter space to supplement Chicago’s efforts.

As part of Thursday’s announcement, Preckwinkle said she “will work with Cook County commissioners to commit up to $70 million more for this joint funding plan.”

Given the current run rate of the county’s healthcare spending, it’s unclear what the $70 million in additional funding would entail. County officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“As critical funding for this ongoing humanitarian crisis stalls in Congress, Cook County stands committed to the well-being of the region,” Preckwinkle said in Thursday’s news release. “We cannot wait for additional resources and Cook County is proud to stand alongside Governor Pritzker in this joint funding plan, ensuring that shelter capacity, healthcare and wraparound services remain accessible to those in need.”

In addition to possible resistance from his fellow Democrats, Pritzker’s proposal was alreaddy being questioned by Republican legislative leadership.

Illinois House Republican leader Tony McCombie of Savanna criticized Pritzker’s announcement of the new funding, saying “four weeks ago” the Pritzker administration didn’t have money for “basic care for our developmentally disabled.”

“Now he has $182 million burning a hole in his pocket,” she said. “This migrant crisis needs a long-term plan, not a blank check that disregards our most vulnerable.”

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