The Chicago City Council has been known as a rubber stamp for the priorities of mayors for decades. But a bill to supply $70 million more in funding for migrants has raised the hackles of South Side and West Side aldermen whose black constituents are up in arms over the money being given to fill the needs of "newcomers."
Tensions boiled over during Wednesday's council meeting as several Chicagoans expressed their frustration with the city having already spent $300 million on migrants.
"We need that money in my neighborhood, we need that money on my block," railed one black woman. The woman was wearing a bright red MAGA cowboy hat. "So I’m asking ya’ll to use our tax money for our people, we need it."
Another black woman was even more specific in her threat.
"Vote for the money for these immigrants today and we coming for those seats, you can believe that," she said. "You better be worrying about your job, you better be worrying about your longevity because we gonna vote and we gonna getcha out, 'cause you ain’t doing right by us, that’s what time it is."
Put simply, the city doesn't have the money. Deficit estimates for 2024 are now at $1.5 billion with another $1.9 billion in 2025.
"The $70 million would come from a small reserve fund. We have what we have. We don’t have an inordinate amount of reserves," Johnson said, according to the Chicago Tribune. "This has been a strain on Chicago."
Johnson is blaming Washington for the funding mess, and he's not wrong. The Republican House is not going to give Chicago any extra funding for migrants, and Biden still wishes the whole problem of illegal aliens pouring into the U.S. would just go away,
In less than two years, 40,000 migrants have come to Chicago. Black residents are bitterly complaining that the migrants are getting the red carpet treatment while Americans are getting the short end of the stick. The city is not only giving the newcomers a place to live, they're giving them food and other amenities,
The bitterness has become so intense that an effort is underway to change Illinois law to allow for a recall of the mayor.
The progressive mayor’s handling of the migrant crisis and Chicago’s crime has frustrated some residents so much that they are now working to get Johnson recalled.
A group is currently laying the groundwork by gathering signatures for a ballot referendum to change state law, which currently does not allow for the recall of anyone except the governor.
Dan Boland, a former technology salesman, is leading the effort and says Johnson is not taking care of its citizens first.
"We can’t let Chicago circle the rim for another three years," Boland says. "We need to get out of this cycle and fix things… if [Johnson] can’t fix it, we need to get someone in there who can."
Easier said than done. Illinois is not a "good government" state that makes it easy to get a referendum on the ballot. The arduous process is slow-walked every step of the way.
Johnson is refusing to take responsibility for anything. Nothing is his fault. It's the fault of either Washington, his staff, or the governor that he can't hide his incompetence.
And even black Chicagoans are beginning to realize the colossal error they made in electing him.
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