Democrat Mayor Daniel Biss is proposing a migrant shelter in Evanston, Illinois that would house up to 65 migrants. The total cost? $20 million in grant money. The plan is to turn an unused office building into a migrant shelter. Yearly maintenance costs are estimated to be $2 million per year.

Cook County, Illinois, where Evanston is situated, allocated a $100 million “disaster response and recovery” fund. A portion of this fund is to help deal with the current migrant situation. Payment for the shelter would come from applying for a large portion of this fund.

Mayor Biss has requested support from the Evanston City Council about this matter. According to a memo he wrote, he believes that the shelter could be a positive:

“This could be an asset to the City as we see increased migration for climate or other reasons.”

Source: Breitbart – https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/04/07/liberal-chicago-suburb-evanston-wants-20-million-grant-make-abandoned-office-building-migrant-shelter/

The proposal comes in response to the influx of 37,000 migrants coming into the Chicago area.

Chicago Neighborhoods Dealing with the Migrant Crisis Created by the Biden Administration

Since President Joe Biden took office in 2021, the flow of illegal aliens entering the US has reached unprecedented numbers. According to the Associated Press, this inflow is not slowing down enough:

“Arrests for illegal border crossings from Mexico reached an all-time high in December since monthly numbers have been released, authorities said Friday, exposing a growing vulnerability for President Joe Biden in his campaign for a second term.”

Source: Associated Press – https://apnews.com/article/immigration-border-crossings-mexico-biden-18ac91ef502e0c5433f74de6cc629b32

Surrounding Chicago Areas and Officials are not as Supportive of Housing Migrants

Other surrounding area Chicago cities are not as supportive of these types of budget prioritizations. An increasing number of public officials have spoken against these types of policies, including other Democrats. In fact, according to NBC News, many other Chicago area suburbs are trying to put measures in place to slow down the arrival of unexpected migrants, as these areas cannot support so many new people coming in so quickly:

“Several Chicago suburbs are moving to pass policies that would restrict buses seeking to drop off migrants unannounced in their communities as Texas continues to send thousands of undocumented immigrants to the area.

The proposed policies would require bus operators to seek approval before they unload people. Chicago, which has been struggling to house the busloads of people who have arrived over the last year, had established protocols for drop-offs that resulted in some bus companies’ leaving migrants in suburbs outside the city, instead.”

Source: NBC News – https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/chicago-suburbs-seek-restrict-migrant-dropoffs-rcna131920

As the arrival of migrants continues to grow, nearby areas are expressing outrage over other migrant shelters being created in the last few years. Many believe these undocumented arrival expenses are taking away from much-needed neighborhood resources.