(NewsNation) — Chicago has spent $156 million on the migrant crisis, and with more than 14,000 asylum-seekers still being housed in city shelters, at least one Democrat is pushing back against their hometown’s designation as a “sanctuary city.”
More than 34,000 migrants have been sent to Chicago by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in the past 18 months. While Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson have pledged to continue to provide refuge and other support for migrants, some residents are questioning their city’s leadership in handling the crisis.
“There is no money to take care of the migrants, nor is there money to take care of the people that are there,” government employee Cata Truss said, according to the Daily Mail. “And so we have a real mess on our hands.”
Truss said that she, among others, believes Chicago should remove its status as a sanctuary city and that a “better plan” should be in place.
CBS Chicago reported the city has spent $194.5 million on migrant-related vendors since October 2022. That tally, however, does not include how much government officials have spent on other costs associated with other aspects of the crisis, including educating school-aged migrants.
Truss and Chicago resident Gerald Harris sued the city in October along with other residents in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. City leaders had previously announced they would use a local fieldhouse normally used to keep local kids out of trouble to house migrants, the Daily Mail reported.
Truss and other Austin residents claim their neighborhoods and schools have been divested of funds to cover the costs of housing migrants.
That plan was later scrapped, according to the Daily Mail report. The Daily Mail reported in January that 14,200 migrants were being housed in 28 city shelters.
Johnson announced that he would place limits on how long migrants can remain in shelters. However, his deputy chief of staff told CBS Chicago the mayor is trying to devise a long-term plan that will get them through the rest of the year.
The planning comes as Pritzker and Johnson have sparred over whether more shelters will be built in Chicago. But as more questions arise, Truss claims more Democrats — including some on the city council — are “jumping ship” because the mayor has not changed his strategy.
“(Johnson) has to have regrets because people have regrets,” Truss said. “We are not happy with what is happening here.”