Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on Thursday announced they will seek an additional $250 million from the state and county to continue to respond to Chicago’s migrant crisis.
It’s an agreement noticeably missing a key partner — the city of Chicago.
And it comes after Pritzker, Preckwinkle and Mayor Brandon Johnson met in January and this month to discuss how to fund efforts to fight the crisis.
According to a source briefed on the discussions, Johnson initially agreed to ask the City Council for more funds but backed off.
Pritzker and Preckwinkle say they will commit more than $250 million to ensure shelter, wraparound services and health care for migrants being sent to Chicago from the Texas border.
More than 35,000 migrants have been sent to Chicago since the crisis began in August 2022.
“With thousands of asylum-seekers continuing to come to Chicago in desperate need of support, and with Congress continuing to refuse to act — it is clear the state, county, and city will have to do more to keep people safe,” Pritzker said in a statement.
The Democratic governor will ask the Illinois General Assembly for an additional $182 million — and that will be part of an ask in his budget address in Springfield next week.
The state has already spent $478 million since the beginning of the migrant influx in 2022. In November, the state committed $160 million to help with a welcome center and other areas. Lawmakers still must fund that amount through a supplemental bill, which is not expected until after the March 19 primary.
Cook County has already committed more than $100 million in its current fiscal budget for new arrival-related costs, primarily for health care, and Preckwinkle said she will ask the Cook County Board of Commissioners for an additional $70 million.
“We cannot wait for additional resources, and Cook County is proud to stand alongside Gov. Pritzker in this joint funding plan, ensuring that shelter capacity, health care and wraparound services remain accessible to those in need,” Preckwinkle said in a statement.
The new funding plan will help maintain shelter capacity and continue wraparound and health care services, both offices said in a joint news release.
Johnson’s $16.7 billion budget included just $150 million for a migrant crisis now costing the city $40 million a month.
The mayor last year said he budgeted the $150 million to keep political heat on the state and federal governments to do more to help Chicago with a crisis that he asserted no major city is equipped to handle.
