Illinois expanding non-citizen intake center, shelter and food spending

[January 04, 2024]  By Greg Bishop | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – The state of Illinois is opening a new intake center and shelter site to process the continued influx of non-citizen migrants.

An additional $2 million in food service contracts for shelters in Chicago are also being extended by the state through Jan. 15. Funding for Wednesday’s announced operations come from $160 million of state taxpayer funds Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced in November.

The plan comes after more than 60 buses were sent to Illinois from Texas between Dec. 20-27, with nearly 2,500 new arrivals. Buses have also been sent outside of Chicago, to places like Aurora and Elgin, without any coordination, the governor’s office said.

“Over the New Year weekend, Texas sent a plane to Rockford with more than 350 new arrivals,” Pritzker’s office said.

Co-located with the city of Chicago’s bus landing zone, the state’s intake center will have six heated tents that will be used to connect new arrivals with wraparound services and ways to reunite with family members. A 220-person shelter located in Little Village at a former CVS is being constructed while the state operates a temporary shelter at a Chicago hotel.

“The state is determined to use its limited resources as efficiently as possible, helping asylum seekers settle in Illinois and achieve independence,” Pritzker said in a statement. “We will continue to ensure that they are met with dignity and compassion, while we call for increased coordination and funding from the federal government to provide a federal solution to this federal challenge.”

Former state Sen. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, who is running for Congress, said that solution should be to close the southern U.S. border for national security.

“Where did these people come from,” Bailey told The Center Square. “Have they been coming across our borders for the last several years? I do believe that the situation at our border is of the utmost importance. It is priority No. 1.”

To date, the state has spent about $478 million on non-citizen shelter, food, medical care, rental assistance and wraparound casework and services.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson recently told CNN he’s looking for $15 billion in federal taxpayer funds for the migrant crisis nationwide.

“Without real significant investment from our federal government, it won’t just be the city of Chicago that won’t be able to maintain this mission, it’s the entire country that is now at stake,” Johnson said.

Bailey said this is where Democratic leadership leads.

“The very people that wanted sanctuary cities, wanted a sanctuary state, are now fearing, Brandon Johnson recently fearing for the future of our country because of this,” Bailey said.

Since Dec. 20, nearly 3,000 non-citizens have arrived in Illinois from the southern U.S. border. More than 25,000 have arrived since August 2022.