Chicago expects tens of thousands of more migrants to arrive between now and when the city officially begins hosting the Democratic National Convention (DNC), according to city officials.
City officials are preparing for as many as 25,000 new asylum seekers to arrive in the few weeks left before Chicago hosts the DNC, according to Axios. The predictions come as the city has already been forced to scale back its shelter accommodations for migrants amid major financial constraints, and the new wave of illegal immigrants could make for embarrassing optics as the national Democrats use the city to nominate their presidential candidate. (RELATED: ‘We Do Not Have Room’: Sanctuary State To Offer Plane Tickets For Migrants To Leave)
“We’ve looked at estimates of 20,000 to 25,000 people arriving,” Deputy Mayor for Immigration Beatríz Ponce de León stated to Axios. “It depends on how many people are crossing the border. Right now there is a slowdown because of the executive order that puts limits on how many people can cross and ask for asylum, but that is being challenged in court.”
President Joe Biden issued an executive order last month that aims to crack down on the number of migrants illegally crossing through the U.S.-Mexico border.
The expectations come after Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott — who has made the bussing of illegal migrants to sanctuary cities a cornerstone of his Operation Lonestar initiative — said during the Republican National Convention that the bussing would continue.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – JANUARY 18: The logo for the Democratic National Convention is displayed on the scoreboard at the United Center during a media walkthrough on January 18, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. The convention is scheduled to be held in Chicago from August 19-22, 2024. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
A spokesman for Abbott’s office confirmed the bussing will continue on — Chicago included.
“Until President Biden and Border Czar Harris step up and do their jobs to secure the border, Texas will continue busing migrants to sanctuary cities across the country like Chicago to provide much-needed relief to our overwhelmed border towns,” Andrew Mahaleris, press secretary for Abbott, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Chicago has welcomed in more than 43,000 migrants since August 2022 and has so far spent around $150 million to house and feed them, according to the Chicago Tribune. Many of the migrants are from Venezuela and have largely been bussed into the city by Abbott as he has sought to relieve his own state, which has been battered by the border crisis.
Migrant housing cost Chicago roughly $1.5 million a day late last year, but the price tag has since dropped to around $677,000 a day, according to Axios.
Democratic Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson in June said the current migrant housing situation was “unsustainable” as he defended ongoing shelter evictions.
“It is an unsustainable mission because we don’t have support from Congress,” Johnson stated during a June press conference amid pushback of the city’s recent decision to limit shelter stays to 60 days. “Congress, of course, refuses to respond to President Biden’s leadership and they refused to enact real substantive immigration reform policy, because that’s really what we need.”
Chicago officials are keeping roughly 5,000 shelter beds available ahead of the DNC, according to Axios. If those end up being filled, the city has thousands of additional “just-in-time” beds to house even more migrants.
The DNC will be held in Chicago from Aug. 19th through the 22nd. Vice President Kamala Harris has since garnered enough Democratic delegates to earn her party’s presidential nomination after Biden announced he would no longer seek re-election.
Since Biden entered office, Border Patrol agents have encountered more than seven million migrants trying to illegally cross the U.S. southern border, according to the latest Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data.
The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.
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