Dupage Policy Journal

Illinois residents are angry about the State’s continual spending on immigrant welcoming centers.

The city of Chicago has long been known as a sanctuary or welcoming city to immigrants, and with recent actions from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the city has welcomed more than 8,000 migrants since August of 2022. Mayor Lori Lightfoot recently released a letter to Abbott asking him to stop sending buses to her city, claiming that they were overwhelmed and did not have enough space or resources to be able to care for the migrants in a safe and orderly manner.

A tweet from Chicago resident Jeanna Ives showed her displeasure with the state’s funding efforts for this welcoming campaign.

"Illinois FY2023 budget included $115 million just for Immigrant Welcoming Centers," she said in her post. "And yet, the teacher unions are complaining there isn't enough money to continue the tax credit scholarship program that only cost $75 million. Democrat priorities on full display."

Ives bemoaned the millions of dollars allocated in fiscal year 2023 for welcoming centers and the lack of funding for student scholarships. The Tax Credit Scholarship Program is a need-based eligibility program from the State that allows students to apply for and receive scholarships that could cover up to 100% of their private school tuition, capped at the average per-student cost to educate in the state, somewhere in the area of $16,000 though it fluctuates yearly. Students with unique needs, such as learning disabilities, show gifted abilities, are English language learners, or other challenges could receive larger scholarships.

Ives also tweeted about Chicago's history of welcoming immigrants.

"Chicago has been supporting sanctuary policies for 40 years," she said in the post. "Rahm passed a Welcoming ordinance in 2012. In 2019, Lightfoot said, 'This is a city that stands shoulder to shoulder with immigrant and refugee communities.' And now, she tells the TX Gov that he is causing chaos to 'score political points' when he ships migrants north at their request."

The State of Illinois issued $115 million in grants out of its general fund to immigrant welcoming centers in fiscal year (FY) 2023, among other allocations of their budget for related operations, the Department of Human Services' budget report said. For FY2024, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is suggesting a decrease to $25 million, although the additional grants from other state funding sources will remain at an extra $80 million as it was in FY2023. There will also be a loss in federal funds for the program, and the American Rescue Plan Act funds used for it are only those that were allocated in FY2023 but not yet spent, so they roll over. The State continues to operate its Illinois Welcoming Center, which is “a comprehensive service center for the integration of immigrants and refugees in Illinois.”

Pritzker recently tweeted about the financial health of the state.

“Our fiscal progress is remarkable,” he said in an April 24 Twitter post. “We went from having $17 billion in overdue bills to paying our bills on time. We went years without a budget to passing four balanced ones in a row. We used to have no cushion to protect us and now we're building a $2B+ Rainy Day Fund.”