It is no secret our immigration system is badly broken. President Joe Biden and Congress have failed to honor their oaths of office and protect the people of the United States at our borders.
Approximately 16.8 million immigrants who lack permanent legal status live in the U.S., a report released this year by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) estimates. The president is oblivious to the crisis at our southern border.
“The president has done more to secure the border and to deal with this issue of immigration than anybody else,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. However, according to the Department of Homeland Security, a record number of migrant families — 91,000 — illegally crossed the southern border last month.
A country without borders is not a country. We American citizens deserve to know who is in our country. It has been a year since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began busing migrants and asylum-seekers to sanctuary cities and states. To date, Chicago has received about 13,000 migrants.
A year later, the state and the city lack a clear plan to deal with migrants. In fact, decisions made by Mayor Brandon Johnson and his predecessor Lori Lightfoot may have exacerbated the migrant crisis. Today, more than 2,000 migrants have been sleeping on floors at police stations and O’Hare International Airport.
The decision to turn the Lake Shore Hotel into a migrant shelter has sparked outrage in the community. Similar indignation has generated protests in New York. Many Chicagoans have expressed anger with city officials for not addressing the homelessness crisis here. I can’t understand why our elected leaders are not putting the same energy and resources into prioritizing Chicago residents. After all, I have a moral obligation to take care of my home first and then seek to help others. Chicago has spent more than $100 million on migrants to date.
What about the burgeoning homeless and affordable housing crisis? More than 200,000 families are on Chicago Housing Authority waiting lists, according to the CHA’s fiscal year 2023 report. The wait for public housing can take six months to 25 years. The Section 8 waitlist is currently closed. The CHA says the city has not received a major increase in vouchers over the last 30 years.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development shared with WLS-Ch. 7 journalists that it has a “severe shortage of affordable housing” and that “the wait list times at CHA reflect that there is greater demand for low-income housing resources than there is supply, a trend, unfortunately, not unique to the city of Chicago.” The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless just issued a report showing there are more than 68,000 people who are homeless here and the majority are people of color.
With this data top of mind, why wouldn’t elected leaders place a priority on providing affordable housing for its citizens? Chicago residents on the South and West sides are struggling with high unemployment, affordable housing, food deserts, health disparities and mental health, and our elected leaders are taking resources and using them to help support migrants. Illinois’ welcoming legislation provides a green light for migrants to seek sanctuary in our state.
Elected leaders’ failure to enforce immigration laws has caused tension among Americans who need resources for mental health, health care, housing, education and crime fighting.
As a humanitarian, I seek to help everyone, but charity begins at home. How can we help others when our citizens are being neglected and left to fend for themselves? The diversion of resources to provide for migrants means fewer resources for poor communities.
This crisis is solely on the shoulders of our elected leaders. The crisis could get ugly as migrants’ needs are being placed over that of our citizens. As resources become scarce, there will be a reckoning for cities and states whose finances are poorly managed.
I recommend the following solutions to deal with our immigration crisis:
* President Biden should declare a state of emergency and secure the borders.
* Elected leaders should enforce the U.S. immigration laws.
* Biden should use his executive powers to fast-track work permits.
* Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Johnson and other Democratic leaders should adopt migrant families and allow them to stay in their homes.
* Elected officials should prioritize resources for U.S. citizens first. The resources being allocated to migrants should be spent on our most vulnerable citizens.
Political leaders passed sanctuary laws without fully appreciating the plans and resources needed to take care of migrants and asylum-seekers. These laws appear to be in conflict with the U.S. Constitution and encourage illegal immigration. We are a nation of laws, and directing law enforcement to ignore immigration laws will erode our democracy. According to FAIR, the cost of illegal immigration to U.S. taxpayers has reached $115.6 billion, a 30% increase over five years. I write this commentary to make those comfortable with open borders uncomfortable.
The poem at the base of the Statute of Liberty reads in part: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Perhaps we should add “until resources run out.”
Willie Wilson is a Chicago business owner and a former 2023 mayoral candidate.
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