Chicago City Council Introduces Resolution to Reconsider Sanctuary City Status

The Chicago City Council is reconsidering whether to remain a sanctuary city.

On Thursday, the entity called for a vote on whether to include a referendum on next spring's ballot regarding the issue. The referendum would let residents decide whether the city should remain a sanctuary.

"The reason I have brought this with some of my colleagues to the floor is not to eliminate Chicago as a sanctuary city," said Alderman Anthony Beale, one of the resolution's sponsors. "But what it is, is to find some kind of compromise and threshold to stop the bleeding that we're undertaking right now."

According to Alderman Beale, one of the sponsors of the resolution, the city of Chicago is spending $31 million a month to house migrants. He introduced the resolution to let residents decide whether it is in the city's best interest to continue taking in migrants and spending taxpayer dollars to house and feed them.

"This is just a question, a nonbinding question, to ask the people who are paying this $30 and $40 million a month and if they want to continue down this road. Or do we want to make our elected officials to do something different?" said Beale.

After deliberations and delays, there were not enough city council members in attendance to vote on the resolution. The vote was rescheduled for next week, but should the resolution pass, it will be sent to the full city council meeting, where members will vote on whether to include it in next year's ballot.

Sanctuary cities are not legal classifications; however, the term refers to policies and actions taken by cities and states that prevents law enforcement from reporting the immigration status of individuals unless they commit a serious crime, according to the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS).

Chicago became a sanctuary city in 1985 after then-Mayor Harold Washington issued an executive order.

The referendum comes as the city has been overwhelmed with migrants who have crossed the southern border and been bussed to the city from states such as Texas. Some estimates state that Chicago has received over 20,000 migrants in just over a year.

The city has been in charge of sheltering the migrants, and Mayor Brandon Johnson even proposed a new budget with designated money to build additional shelters for migrants. However, some city council members and residents are upset that the city is spending resources on migrants and not its residents.

The city has also been under scrutiny for not housing all migrants. Due to limited resources, migrants have been forced to sleep outside of police stations even as the temperatures have dipped below freezing.