Chicago resident pledges $51 million for immigrant relief package

A Chicago resident who was arrested earlier this year for trying to block migrant buses in Chicago has criticized the city’s new $51 million immigrant aid package.

Andre Smith, 55, described the situation in Chicago as a “mess” and demanded city officials temporarily pause the refuge status of the city, which has been overwhelmed by more than 10,000 migrants since August.

‘It’s just a mess in here’ he told Fox & Friends Weekend on Saturday.

“We have $160 million spent in Chicago on the migrants with no data, no plan. And now we are about to spend $51 million approved by the city council with no file, no plan for 500 migrants for 30 days. That is unheard of,” he added.

Smith was also present last week at the heated town meeting where the package was debated and police had to remove civilians.

‘It’s never been done before. 500 migrants, $51 million. No execution plan, so I’m calling for forensics,” Smith said.

“I call for this city to be held in the hands of the shrine, I call on the mayor to dwell on what we call a shrine disaster.”

Smith suggested investing some of the money earmarked for the migrant package in struggling black communities in Chicago.

“If you look at all Memorial Day, we shot 53 people in the city of Chicago, 11 dead. That’s just Memorial Day weekend. So you can spend that money on crime,’ he said.

Chicago police said 53 people were shot in 42 separate incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Monday. reported at the time. One person was also fatally stabbed.

Smith said his battle against city officials would continue.

“I waited 55 years to be arrested for stopping a bus of migrants from going to a school that the taxpayer pays for,” he said. “The battle will continue. Go to jail or not, we’re going to fight,” he added.

At least three people, including Smith, were arrested as they protested Chicago’s decision to move migrants into a former Woodlawn schoolhouse in February. Block Club Chicago reported.

In May, irate Chicago residents filed a lawsuit against the city after it announced plans to house illegal immigrants in a disused South Side high school.

The old South Shore High School was expected to become a temporary shelter for up to 500 migrants, but officials could not clarify for how long at the time.

More than 10,000 migrants have flooded the city since buses arrived from the US-Mexico border in August and some have had to resort to sleeping in police stations as Chicago ran out of housing.

Officials have called for more financial aid for the migrant crisis, but others demanded that the money go to other neighborhoods.

“We need to allocate some of this money to our black children, to the black community,” a member of the public declared at the rally last week.

The new funding, approved last week by a vote of 43 to 13, lasts through June and is designed to help Mayor Brandon Johnson, who took office just two weeks ago, navigate a crisis he inherited from the outgoing mayor, Lori Lightfoot.

In her final days as mayor, she declared the migrant situation in Chicago a “state of emergency.” Officials have said they cannot afford to rent hotel rooms for the migrants, who have arrived in the city with nowhere else to go and have begun to fill police stations.

The new money is spent on it personnel, food, transport and legal services in temporary shelters, in the hope that this will happen alleviate the city’s crisis.

Alderman Jason Ervin, Chairman of the Budget Committee, told ABC7 the city will have to come up with a long-term plan, and that the money is primarily intended to give Johnson’s administration breathing room.

“There has to be a bigger plan and I think this is always designed to give the incoming administration time to do that. This is an emergency measure, pure and simple,” he said after the proposal was passed.

Much of Wednesday afternoon’s debate was racially charged, viewing black Chicagoans and Hispanic migrants as two separate groups in need.

“We need to allocate some of this money to our black children, to the black community,” one audience member shouted.

However, some speakers encouraged taking a less divided position.

“We have to help the people of this great city. It’s not either-or. It’s both,” said Alderman David Moore of the 17th Ward.

Jeanette Taylor of the 20th Ward was moved to tears as she addressed the crowd, who then applauded her remarks.

“We’re just fighting to drink from a goddamn fountain, but hurt people don’t hurt other hurt people,” she said.

Steve Boulton, chairman of the Republican Party of Chicago, roundly criticized the funding.

“We don’t know where that money comes from,” he said. “We are not told what that money will be spent on. We are not told how it is spent.

“It is irresponsible of the city council to appropriate what is little more than emergency money to get us through a month or two and then the problem is still right in our face.”

Alderman Maria Hadden of the 49th Ward voted for the additional funding, but asked community members to consider black residents as well.

“Anyone who works hard for this, you have to stand up for black Chicagoans with the same energy, and that costs money,” Hadden said at the rally.

Videos and photos from the past few weeks show hallways in some Chicago neighborhoods filled with mattresses and the personal belongings of migrants.

Chicago is one of several Democratic-controlled cities where Southern states have been transporting migrants as the crisis on the US-Mexico border deepens.

Footage by photojournalist Rebecca Brannon showed dozens of migrants sitting on and around mattresses at a Chicago police station.

Brannon reported that many of the migrants had been sleeping and eating on the floors, hampering daily police activities.

More than 10,000 migrants have arrived in Chicago since August, when southern states began shipping asylum seekers north. Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent migrants to Democratic-run cities to ease the burden on border towns.

“To provide much-needed relief to our overrun border communities, Texas began shipping migrants to sanctuary cities like your “Welcoming City,” along with Washington, DC, New York City, and Philadelphia, with more to come.

“Until Biden secures the border to stop the influx of mass migration, Texas will continue this necessary program,” Abbott wrote in a May letter.

Migrants have been sent to cities such as Chicago, Philadelphia and New York. Migrants have also arrived in Washington, D.C., with buses stopping in front of Vice President Kamala Harris’ home.