Chicago’s migrant crisis is fraying Democrats’ political base – Chicago Tribune

From almost the moment he took office, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has championed the state as a sanctuary for immigrants. But in his quest to keep Illinois a “welcoming state,” the welcome mat is becoming politically frayed as Chicago tries to cope with an influx of more than 18,000 asylum-seekers.

What was once altruistic idealism delivered 1,200 miles away from the nation’s southern border is now colliding with realism in how to temporarily house, provide for and resettle thousands of asylum-seekers in a crisis largely orchestrated by Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to use his state’s long-standing border issues to paint leaders in Democratic cities and states as hypocrites.

As each new bus arrives here from Texas and other locales, more political pressure mounts on Pritzker and on Chicago’s new progressive Democratic leadership under Mayor Brandon Johnson.

With no firm plans in place and the only concrete advice to incoming migrants being Pritzker’s warning that “it’s gonna get cold in Chicago and New York very soon,” cracks among the Democratic base, particularly among key ethnic and racial blocs, have emerged over spending taxpayer dollars and housing for migrants.

Despite the cold political calculation of using human beings as political pawns in a larger federal game aimed at securing the nation’s southern border, Abbott’s strategy of spreading the pressure on the federal government may be working.

“We of course are a welcoming state and have been caring for the people who’ve arrived. But we can’t bear the burden only ourselves,” Pritzker said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on his calls for assistance from Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration.

[ Chicago expecting even higher pace of migrant arrivals as mayor, governor press White House for more help ]

“It seems like now is the moment to talk about border security and immigration reform. We want immigrants in the United States, we also want border security. It seems like there’s a compromise there,” the Democratic governor said.

But there has been no serious effort at the federal level to deal with comprehensive immigration reform since 20 years ago, when George W. Bush, a former Texas governor, was president. That effort fell by the wayside as the GOP saw the issue of illegal immigration as a potent one for building the party’s political base.

Now, with the leadership of the Republican-led U.S. House unsettled, prospects for a comprehensive immigration plan and significant federal aid to Chicago appear unlikely anytime soon.

Pritzker’s latest comments are in contrast to the boldness he exhibited only 10 days after he was sworn in as governor in January 2019. Then, he issued an executive order declaring immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers as “critical to the fabric of our State, contributing the culture and economy that make Illinois a great place to live” and requiring the state to expand welcoming centers.

In December of that year, in response to then-President Donald Trump vastly curbing legal immigration and issuing an executive order allowing states and cities to opt out of refugee resettlement programs, Pritzker wrote a defiant letter to then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declaring that Illinois would “proudly consent” to extending help to refugees.

“As the governor of Illinois and the great-grandson of refugees, I am committed to ensuring that Illinois is a welcoming state, especially for refugees and those seeking asylum,” he wrote. “As survivors of persecution, refugees embody the importance of human rights, democracy, and freedom. Refugees’ resilience in the face of hardship inspires courage, hope, and perseverance. And refugees’ countless contributions undoubtedly make our states and nation stronger.”

Fast-forward to earlier this month and a letter to a different administration.

Pritzker, a member of Biden’s reelection advisory board and the host governor for the Democratic National Convention that will renominate the president in August, wrote to Biden that after 13 months of migrant deliveries by bus, Illinois is overwhelmed and “mostly unsupported.”

“Unfortunately, the welcome and aid Illinois has been providing to these asylum-seekers has not been matched with support by the federal government,” Pritzker wrote. “Most critically, the federal government’s lack of intervention and coordination at the border has created an untenable situation for Illinois.”

Pritzker’s letter did get attention in the White House with Biden taking recent actions on immigration, including speeding up work permits for Venezuelan migrants, resuming deportations of border crossers from Venezuela who do not gain refugee status, resuming the building of a border wall in Texas and sending a team from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to Chicago to assess the migrant situation.

Reflecting the problems Democrats face over the issue, Democratic U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez who represents a Latino influence district that stretches from several city neighborhoods to the western suburbs, sent out two news releases on Oct. 5 — one slamming the Biden administration for resuming the border wall and a second praising the administration for sending the Homeland Security team to Chicago.

The White House followed up with an email to reporters that pointed out the Ramirez news release showing appreciation to Biden for sending the Homeland Security team. It made no mention of her other statement that criticized Biden’s border wall decision.

On Thursday, Democratic U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth joined with 13 of the state’s 14 Democratic House members in writing a letter to Biden urging the administration to devote more resources to Chicago for the migrant crisis. Central and southwestern Illinois Democratic U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, a first-term legislator from Springfield, did not sign the letter.

[ Illinois leaders tepid about more quick funding for Chicago’s migrant crisis ]

“State and local officials have worked tirelessly to serve these new arrivals, and the federal government must swiftly provide assistance and resources that reflect this administration’s commitment to safe, orderly, and humane immigration processes,” the letter said, in seeking flexibility in grant funding, waiving fees for temporary work permits for migrants and appointing a federal point person on the migrant issue for Illinois.

With Democrats in Illinois acknowledging a lack of early 2024 enthusiasm for Biden among those in the long-underserved Black and Latino communities, the issue of dollars being spent and the search for places to house the asylum-seekers has become an added political problem.

On the West Side, Johnson has put on hold plans to use the Amundsen Park field house as a migrant shelter amid residents’ protests that it would curtail programs and services.

On the South Side, Democratic state Sen. Willie Preston hosted a community meeting in the predominantly Black Auburn Gresham neighborhood where he asked residents if they supported Chicago revoking its sanctuary city status.

“I’m telling you all that this is a very serious situation,” he said. “It is a very controversial situation, and that is why I’m one of the first state elected officials to my knowledge to step out (in) front of this issue and say enough is enough, hold the line. We need a cap on migrants because the people don’t want it. We cannot afford it, and I’m willing to fight.”

As for using local and state tax dollars to help the migrants, Preston said, “I believe our community has sovereignty. I believe our community has paid taxes.” Noting that a high percentage of people in Illinois experiencing homelessness are Black, he said he thinks “charity starts at home.”

Andrew Chavez, 32, a downtown office worker who was born in Chicago and raised on the Southwest Side, said he is generally supportive of Democratic causes. But he said he has drawn a line on the migrant issue, believing the money being devoted to serving asylum-seekers should go instead to help the existing homeless population and to restore neighborhoods.

“This tarnishes the hard work my parents went through when they legally migrated here from Mexico. They didn’t get any help. The migrants now coming over here have contributed to the negative stereotypes that people have about people like my family,” said Chavez, a first-generation Mexican American.

“The fact that we’re spending millions of dollars at this point, money suddenly being found to renovate abandoned buildings and find places for these people, is ridiculous,” he said.

Democrats privately concede Chavez isn’t alone in his feelings — another example of Abbott’s politically debilitating aim for Democrats in sending migrants to blue cities and states.

Charles Wheeler, a retired professor of public affairs reporting at the University of Illinois at Springfield, said sending migrants to Chicago was a strategy aimed at allowing Republicans to portray Democrats as politicians who don’t put their money where their mouth is.

Wheeler said Republicans are saying, “Oh yeah, you’re fine with it when you don’t have to deal with — quote — these people — unquote. But when they actually arrive, in your communities, you are in an uproar.”

Wheeler continued: “And it gets fed by folks to whose advantage it is to pit one group of marginalized folks against another group of marginalized folks.”

This past Tuesday, Pritzker acknowledged it was easy to see why Republicans “think that this is such a great idea” to send thousands of migrants to Chicago and other Democratic cities — “because they want to cause rifts.”

“We’re all doing our best to try to work with the communities where they are challenged to welcome those folks into their communities,” he said.

“I know there are people who are concerned about the continued migration to Chicago and that’s one of the reasons why for the last 13 months, I’ve been saying to the federal government and to our congresspeople that we need not only dollars to help take care of the people who come here, but also have a better system for (a) distribution of folks around the country if they so choose,” he said.

Pritzker also repeated a realism that he also views as a deterrent — the upcoming winter weather.

“I can guarantee you that if people at the border understood how cold it will be and that we are having trouble housing the people that are already here, they will not choose to come to Chicago — assuming that they’re the ones choosing,” he said.

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jgorner@chicagotribune.com