CHICAGO — Illinois Republican Party Chair Kathy Salvi penned an oped published this morning in the Washington Reporter pointing out JB Pritzker’s continued prioritization of illegal migrants over Illinois families. After Pritzker said that he would “do everything that [he] can to protect our undocumented immigrants,” it has become clear that no price tag is too great for the Illinois taxpayer to propel Governor Pritzker toward his ultimate goal, pursuing the White House in 2028. Add to that Mayor Brandon Johnson’s misplaced priorities to the tune hundreds of millions in tax hikes, and Illinois Democrats could not be more tone deaf when it comes to hearing the message voters sent two weeks ago.
See below for excerpts from Chairman Salvi’s oped and read the full Washington Reporter piece HERE:
The truth is that we in Illinois are 3 years into this illegal immigration crisis, creating a massive burden on our families. This past February, despite a $1 billion budget shortfall and an additional $638 million spending spree, Pritzker issued $750 million in tax hikes and allocated millions of additional taxpayer money to house and feed thousands of illegal migrants as the state’s homelessness rate continues to rise.
Meanwhile in the city of Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson pledged millions in spending for illegals over the hundreds of millions promised to the Chicago Teachers Union and the recent complete embarrassment of losing his budget vote 50-0.
What’s worse, Chicago and Illinois mismanaged millions in funding for crises affecting Illinois residents. Since 2021, Illinois has only been kept afloat by COVID-era federal funding. Despite highlighting his “fiscal responsibility” in his reelection campaign, bills were only paid because federal dollars were spent to reduce the state’s overwhelming debt. Despite this federal bailout in all but name, Pritzker has continued to grow the budget and impose billions in tax hikes.
Additionally, the city of Chicago’s spending for illegal border crossers lacks transparency regarding over $400 million, and Illinois citizens completely shoulder the burden of rising healthcare costs for illegals.
Altogether, providing food, housing, and healthcare for illegals costs Illinois well over $1 billion. That’s $1 billion the state can’t afford.
That’s $1 billion taken from legal American citizens struggling with inflation and homelessness. And according to Pritzker – this is just the beginning.
