Chicago migrants to St. Louis? The federal government can lead the way in encouraging more relocation.
Hundreds of asylum-seekers take shelter Oct. 3 inside a waiting area for shuttles near O’Hare’s Terminal 2. PAT NABONG/SUN-TIMES
Over 18,000 migrants have been bused to our city so far, creating an unsustainable situation that keeps getting worse.
Chicago is a “Welcoming City”
— and this editorial board hopes it will remain as such — but the city is facing significant costs to provide migrants adequate housing and support until they are able to work and find jobs. Those expenses cannot be met without outside help.
So if a St. Louis nonprofit ends up relocating some migrants out of state, it would alleviate some of the undue burden placed on Chicago by Republican leaders who decided to send the mostly Venezuelan asylum-seekers here and to other large Democraticrun cities in protest of the Biden administration’s border strategy.
Coordination with other cities and states would go a long way to alleviating Chicago’s burden — and help migrants as well.
Temporary housing and the prospect of enrolling in an apprenticeship program or landing a job would be a boost for families who have been living in a police station or at O’Hare Airport.
It would also be a boost to St. Louis, which has been dealing with a workforce shortage.
“If the [migrants] are going to be in a better place, St. Louis is going to be in a better place, and Chicago is going to be in a better place,” Karlos Ramirez, vice president of Latino outreach for the International Institute of St. Louis, told WBEZ reporter Esther Yoon-Ji Kang.
As the International Institute of St. Louis explores the possibility of taking in some of Chicago’s migrants via a similar program that resettled Afghan refugees in the Missouri city, Washington should take note.
Last year, a proposal to send migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border to a handful of cities of their choosing was shot down by the White House, according to documents obtained by CBS News and three current and former U.S. officials.
Some municipalities didn’t want to be involved and the White House was apparently concerned over the optics of the federal government transporting migrants across the country.
Really? Can it be worse than the images of migrants potentially living in tents and inside crammed public buildings? There must be other cities and towns that have jobs available and are looking to add to their dwindling population.
It is time for the Biden administration to step up and help establish a plan to resettle migrants in places that have a labor shortage and lower housing costs.
Big cities can’t do it alone to thwart those who would rather use migrants to score political points than reach out for a common solution.
Chicago is a “Welcoming City”
— and this editorial board hopes it will remain as such — but the city is facing significant costs to provide migrants adequate housing and support until they are able to work and find jobs. Those expenses cannot be met without outside help.
So if a St. Louis nonprofit ends up relocating some migrants out of state, it would alleviate some of the undue burden placed on Chicago by Republican leaders who decided to send the mostly Venezuelan asylum-seekers here and to other large Democraticrun cities in protest of the Biden administration’s border strategy.
Coordination with other cities and states would go a long way to alleviating Chicago’s burden — and help migrants as well.
Temporary housing and the prospect of enrolling in an apprenticeship program or landing a job would be a boost for families who have been living in a police station or at O’Hare Airport.
It would also be a boost to St. Louis, which has been dealing with a workforce shortage.
“If the [migrants] are going to be in a better place, St. Louis is going to be in a better place, and Chicago is going to be in a better place,” Karlos Ramirez, vice president of Latino outreach for the International Institute of St. Louis, told WBEZ reporter Esther Yoon-Ji Kang.
As the International Institute of St. Louis explores the possibility of taking in some of Chicago’s migrants via a similar program that resettled Afghan refugees in the Missouri city, Washington should take note.
Last year, a proposal to send migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border to a handful of cities of their choosing was shot down by the White House, according to documents obtained by CBS News and three current and former U.S. officials.
Some municipalities didn’t want to be involved and the White House was apparently concerned over the optics of the federal government transporting migrants across the country.
Really? Can it be worse than the images of migrants potentially living in tents and inside crammed public buildings? There must be other cities and towns that have jobs available and are looking to add to their dwindling population.
It is time for the Biden administration to step up and help establish a plan to resettle migrants in places that have a labor shortage and lower housing costs.
Big cities can’t do it alone to thwart those who would rather use migrants to score political points than reach out for a common solution.