Chicago to Give Illegal Immigrants up to $9,000 Each for Housing Costs

Illegal immigrants line up as they wait for a bus to Chicago to transport them out of Eagle Pass, Texas on Sept. 26, 2023. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Chicago’s illegal immigrants are now eligible to receive up to $9,000 in rental assistance under a new state-run program, which includes money to help furnish their new living quarters as the homeless population of Americans living on the city’s streets continues to soar.

Deputy chief of staff Cristina Pacione-Zayas said that taxpayers should expect to be on the hook for housing and furnishing the city’s illegal population for at least half a year and that the amount handed over varies by circumstances.

“That rent lasts for six months and ideally people would have started their legal process, secured legal work authorization and be able to sustain that apartment. And so the cost, or I guess the payment toward the landlord is based on market rate, it’s based on the configuration of the parament—how many rooms, where it’s located—all those things. And so it varies from place to place,” Mr. Pacione-Zayas told Fox 32. 

The state of Illinois has contributed $38 million to the program, while the city has allocated $4 million, according to officials. The plan includes funding for both rented apartments and homes for illegal immigrants and includes assistance for both moving in and money to help set-up the new apartments, according to the report.

The new program is on top of additional funding that has already been set aside to help illegal immigrants. In May, the Chicago City Council announced that $51 million in financial aid from the budget would go toward addressing the flood of immigrants.

Chicago is enduring a mass influx of illegal immigrants. Last week 41 new buses of illegal immigrants arrived in Chicago, bringing the total number of migrants in shelters to 11,000, with 4,000 still sleeping on police station floors and staying at airports.

Meanwhile, residents who see their fellow Chicagoans still living on the streets are outraged over what they consider a “criminal” misdirection of funds.

Tyrone Muhammad, executive director of ECCSC, a Chicago-based group promoting social change, told The Epoch Times that Chicagoans should be the first priority and are in dire need of the limited resources being delegated to illegals.

“These officials are worried about these illegals when we have our own people out on the streets starving and struggling to find shelter,” said Mr. Muhammed. “Go on a walk down our streets and see them for yourselves. This is disgusting.”

“Instead of helping our own people, we are going to send these limited resources to the people who broke the law to help them furnish their new homes?” added Mr. Muhammed.

Over 68,000 Homeless Americans in Chicago

An estimated 68,440 homeless Americans are living on the streets of Chicago, according to the most recent data from 2021—and in the past two years, that number has grown, according to the Chicago Coalition of the Homeless. 

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said the city is reaching a breaking point and needs federal help.

“Let me state this clearly: The city of Chicago cannot go on welcoming new arrivals safely and capably without significant support and immigration policy changes,” Mayor Johnson told reporters at a news conference last September. “The feds haven’t sent any money.”

However, Mr. Muhammed says that the crisis was created in part by Mayor Johnson and other elected officials.

“The priorities of our leaders to continue putting them above our own people is insane, and people are getting angrier and angrier every second of every day,” said Mr. Muhammed.

People congregate outside the Standard Club, once an elite private club, which is being used to house an influx of migrants to Chicago, Ill., on May 10, 2023. Scott Olson/Getty Images

The office of the mayor declined to comment.

For several months, residents have also opposed the influx of illegal immigrants being relocated into their neighborhoods.

Anger on the Streets

Tensions boiled over last month when more than 200 residents filled an emergency community meeting to express their outrage over the city’s plan to relocate up to 300 illegal immigrants to the Chicago Lake Shore Hotel.

“I don’t want them there! Take them someplace else or send them back to Venezuela. I don’t care where they go,“ shouted resident Doris Lewis, according to footage acquired by Fox 5. ”This is wrong. You got 73 percent of the people that are homeless in the city are black people; what have you done for them?”

Other residents threatened that if the city didn’t act, they would take the law into their own hands.

“They disrespect us, rob us, harass us,” one woman said to ABC 7 Chicago. “We’re gonna take over. Nobody is gonna be able to stop us from what we’re gonna do to them.”

Further, the Windy City has also been plagued by another uptick in violence. As of Aug. 31, Chicago police claim to have responded to 1,677 shootings and 418 homicides this year, according to officials. The flood of illegal immigrants who have newly arrived in the city is contributing to the sense of lawlessness, according to Mr. Muhammed.

“It’s a free-for-all,” said Mr. Muhammed. “Our streets are a literal war zone. Our men and women are being murdered every day as our officials continue to look the other way or pretend like they can’t see our community while they focus their time and energy on making sure the illegals are comfortable.”

“That will be reason number one why Mayor Johnson will be a one-term mayor,” he added.