Chicago is throwing a tantrum over its sanctuary city status, and local activist Tio Hardiman is leading the charge to reverse it. With the city hemorrhaging up to $1.5 million a day on migrant housing and an influx of new arrivals on the horizon, Hardiman’s had enough of Chicago’s liberal virtue signaling.
Over the past two years, Chicago has welcomed over 45,000 newcomers from the southern border, adding to the city’s financial woes. The latest state budget, starting this month, earmarks more than $900 million for migrant healthcare, housing, food, and legal aid.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott plans to continue transporting migrants to Chicago, where local law enforcement has no authority over federal immigration enforcement. Meanwhile, a City Council committee recently learned that Chicago hasn’t even budgeted for the expected surge.
Mayor Brandon Johnson, facing the prospect of thousands more migrants arriving just in time for the Democratic National Convention, isn’t exactly thrilled. With around 5,600 new arrivals already in shelters and resources stretched to handle up to 15,000, Johnson is hoping for a miracle to stop the influx. Johnson even joked about hoping that Abbott finds religion and stops sending more migrants.
Unimpressed by the political circus, Hardiman is calling for an end to sanctuary city policies. Hardiman believes the Democrats view these migrants as potential future voters, while Republicans are simply trying to stick it to Democratic cities. “But the real problem is the staggering $185 million Chicago has spent on migrant care in the past six months.”
Hardiman argues that the city’s resources should be directed at those already struggling rather than on a “migrant crisis” that he believes is a result of poor policy. The state, city, and county have wasted nearly $800 million on illegal immigrants. Hardiman said people are starving here, and the message we are sending is that “elected officials care more about the illegal immigrants than they care about the people that have been there their whole life struggling.”
As the migrant surge coincides with the Democratic National Convention starting August 19, Hardiman remains adamant that he’s not going to support sanctuary city policies that prioritize illegal immigrants over struggling locals.
