Democrats create migrant working group Republicans say should be made
public
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[January 18, 2024]
By Greg Bishop | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Illinois House Democrats are forming a working
group to address the ongoing migrant crisis impacting the state.
Republicans say it needs to be made public.
Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, said the
migrant crisis “provides challenges and opportunities that require
thoughtful engagement and consensus building.”
State Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, is a member of the newly created “New
Arrivals Working Group.”
“Bring some ideas together both from a policy standpoint and a fiscal
standpoint,” Buckner told The Center Square. “We’ve got a lot of people
from different backgrounds on this committee and I’m looking forward to
getting together to figure out how we can move forward.”
The group consists of other House Democrats, but no Republicans.
State Rep. Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur, who recently traveled to the
southern U.S. border, said Democrats need to open the meetings up to the
public.
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“Let the people come in from the neighborhoods that are affected,”
Caulkins said. “Let’s talk about it. Let’s talk about it out in the
open. Not some small working group that’s going to give the governor
cover, ‘oh we’re trying to figure it out.’”
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At an unrelated event in Alton, Gov. J.B. Pritzker reacted to a report
about Chicago officials being made aware of poor conditions at one
migrant shelter weeks before a child died.
“I think we all understand and the mayor and his administration
understand that we are trying to keep, in very difficult circumstances,
trying to keep people safe in shelters as we’re moving them on to more
permanent housing and jobs,” Pritzker said.
Tuesday, Pritzker’s office announced another $11 million for communities
that take in migrants. That’s on top of $40 million that was used in
2023. Also announced Tuesday was an additional $4 million to fund 13
Illinois Welcoming Centers around the state. Another $2 million will go
to Immigrant Family Resources Program providers.
State Rep. Blaine Wilhour, R-Beecher City, said the governor needs to
include the legislature.
“The governor has spent the majority of his tenure here in the state of
Illinois operating under emergency orders, disaster proclamations, and
basically initiatives that subvert the legislative branch,” Wilhour
said.
Earlier this month, Pritzker issued his 18th disaster proclamation on
the migrant issue. That’s on top of the more than three years worth of
COVID-19 disaster proclamations he issued between 2020 and 2023.
More than 35,000 non-citizen migrants have come to Illinois since August
2022, costing Illinois taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars with
more costs expected. |