State, county pledge funds for migrant mission, no word from City of Chicago

CHICAGO (CBS) — New money for migrants is coming – but not from the City of Chicago.

The State of Illinois and Cook County recently announced that $250 million more will be given to the city for the migrant mission. But when asked how he would fund the remainder of the mission Thursday, Mayor Brandon Johnson would not specify.

The state, county, and city all came together discuss how much they can pool to pay for the migrant mission this year. They came up with a total – an estimate of $321 million through the end of 2024.

The state committed the money, as did the county – but there was no word from the city Thursday.

“I’m engaging with the county and the state because that’s what leaders do. I made a commitment to collaborating with people,” said Mayor Johnson. “There are a lot of things to consider in this entire operation. It’s not just financial resources.”

The city has already pledged $150 million in this year’s fiscal calendar. Given again, that the city, state, and county determined $321 million is needed through the end of the year, the $150 million pledged by the city is not enough to last past the beginning of April.

On top of the previously-committed $160 million from the state for this year, and the $100 million the county committed for this year, the state and county are pledging a combined $250 million in addition.

“We actually don’t know how many more buses are going to come as we lead up to the DNC,” Mayor Johnson said. “That’s the type of sophistication I was hoping that people would understand – that to talk about a single number without fully knowing all of the complexities that relate to this mission – it’s shortsighted.”

The mayor added that he and the office of Gov. JB Pritzker are still working to iron out details regarding the 2,000 beds the governor has promised to provide for asylum seekers.

Mayor Johnson said he would consider consolidating shelters to help mitigate costs – and CBS 2 is told it is possible the city will use the money for those 2,000 beds to pay for beds they have already set up as an alternative.