Aldermen: Let Voters Decide if Chicago Should Stay a Sanctuary City
Chicagoans are paying the price for socialists like Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson embracing sanctuary city status.
Now, two Alderman in the city, Anthony Napolitano (41st) and Anthony Beale (9th), have cosponsored a resolution that would add a referendum to the March 2024 primary ballot asking voters if Chicago should continue to keep its sanctuary city designation.
Napolitano wrote on Facebook:
I cosponsored a resolution and an ordinance that address the crisis that is greatly impacting our city. The Resolution creates a ballot referendum where residents(YOU) can decide if Chicago should remain a sanctuary city.
The ordinance we created requires Aldermanic approval for Any & All temporary illegal-immigrant housing within their ward.
The illegal-immigrant crisis is quickly spiraling out of control and the hardworking residents of Chicago are left holding the bag. Our residents and the integrity of their neighborhoods need to remain our top priority.
The local Welcoming City ordinance means officials will not ask immigrants about their legal status or deny someone services based on it. It also means the city will not cooperate with federal U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities. Those protections were strengthened in 2021, closing loopholes that allowed police to work with ICE in certain scenarios.
Napolitano said the resolution, which has yet to be introduced to City Council, would give power to voters instead of politicians. He said residents will “suffer” if taxes increase to pay for migrant-related resources.
“Government has the best intention of this being the right thing to do but … it has hurt our city and and country financially,” Napolitano said. “You need to ask the tax-paying residents of your city, ‘Are we doing the right thing here?’ They need to be a part of the conversation, because this is catastrophic.”
Chicago has spent over $100M to care for the illegals arriving in the city thanks to Joe Biden’s broken border.
Despite the millions in taxpayer dollars, the city remains so overwhelmed that migrants are being housed in police stations and turning O’Hare airport into a dangerous, filthy and unsanitary encampment.
The city is also dodging questions about where the funds are going, including denying a NBC Chicago Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for copies of a year’s worth of invoices for the more than $57 million spent on a staffing company that has a contract with the city to provide staffing in shelters.
At a community meeting on Chicago’s South Side focused to discuss a soon-to-be-reestablished migrant shelter at The Lake Shore Hotel in the Hyde Park area, one resident proclaimed, “I don’t want them there. Take them someplace else or send them back to Venezuela. I don’t care where they go.”
Residents in Woodlawn neighborhood shared concerns over the harassment and crime illegals have brought to their community.
