Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson had planned to begin evicting some of the 35,000 migrants who showed up uninvited in Chicago beginning March 1. But for the second time, Johnson has delayed the evictions. In truth, he doesn’t have a viable plan to care for migrants who leave the shelters. They can reapply but would be placed at the end of the line and it may take weeks for them to be placed again.
The 2,100 shelter residents scheduled to be evicted between March 1 and March 28 will receive a 30-day extension while anyone who enters the system today will receive the standard 60-day notice.
The city hasn’t built a shelter since November because Johnson simply doesn’t want to spend money on the migrants. He’s got his own grandiose, radical left priorities and they don’t include a bunch of newcomers.
In fact, Johnson has been at war with Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker to have the state fund shelters. But Pritzker doesn’t want his popularity tainted by the migrant briar patch any more than Johnson. So, no shelters.
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Instead, Johnson is bragging about how much more generous Chicago is in housing the migrants than other big, Democratic cities.
“In Massachusetts, for example, the state government established a statewide limit of 7,500 beds for 100 cities,” he said. “Denver has instituted a 14-day limit for single individuals and 42 (days) for families, making adjustments for weather, just as we have. On Feb. (5), Denver will be discharging families again after its pause. New York instituted a 60-day limit for families and a 30-day limit for single individuals on October 16 and began discharging migrants from shelters on Jan. 9.”
But when asked how the city will find space for newly arriving migrants while letting current shelter residents remain, Johnson said he is working with faith groups, donors and other levels of government. However, the mayor provided no details describing when and where new shelter capacity will be added, again putting the onus on state partners.
Illinois remains committed to building new shelters, Johnson said. He called on the state to build at any sites it is considering. The process of prepping buildings for shelters is slow, he added.
“Remember: the state of Illinois committed to 2,200 beds, right? So, so far they have 200. They’re still committed to 2,000 beds. But again, the goal is of course, is to resettle families as fast as we can to make sure that we are able to handle the flow in the event that it picks up again,” he said. “The state of Illinois can move today to build a shelter, and I’m confident that that will take place.”
Johnson is whistling past the graveyard. Pritzker has said repeatedly that the state can’t build shelters unless Chicago tells them where. Johnson doesn’t want to choose the wildly unpopular shelter sites. He wants the state to do it.
The result is a stalemate.
The pause in evictions is only a temporary solution. It’s likely that Johnson will be forced to issue another pause sometime in April as he and the state war over who gets the booby prize of having to find shelter for migrants.