An investigation into the conditions migrants in Chicago are dealing with revealed that the city was aware of the unsanitary, unsafe conditions of facilities as early as October, more than a month before a young boy died at the shelter. WTTW found that the Johnson Administration and the mayor himself were warned of unsafe conditions at the facilities, including “insufficient bathrooms, exposed pipes with raw sewage, cockroach infestation, a possible outbreak of illness with many people being sick, insufficient provision of meals and water and poor and disrespectful treatment of migrants housed in the shelter by staff.”

As this saga has unfolded, the root cause – Governor Pritzker, would rather stump across the country and take ads out in Texas newspapers than step in to take substantive action. Pritzker signed an emergency declaration in September 2022 after his public criticism of Gov. Abbott’s policy led to more buses coming to Chicago. What has been done since? More than a year later, the governor’s office announced a “Plan to Improve Asylum Seeker Emergency Response.” And now that the city of Chicago is now pushing buses into Chicago suburbs and communities are working to put their own guidelines in place, what is the Governor’s response? A sternly worded letter, an ad in an Austin newspaper, and plenty of headlines made in national news as a Joe Biden surrogate in Des Moines.

ILGOP Chairman Don Tracy released the following statement:

“More than a year after Governor Pritzker initiated this particular crisis, the only substantive thing he’s done about it so far is beg for help from Texas Gov. Abbott and Pres. Biden. The inability or unwillingness of the media to hold Governor Pritzker accountable for his role in bringing this crisis to our state has directly contributed to the Chicago migrant crisis spinning out of control. If Mayor Johnson and Governor Pritzker can’t handle the inherent responsibilities of being a sanctuary city and state, they need to start enforcing US immigration law, call to secure our borders, and work to stop the seemingly endless flow of illegal and unmanaged immigration.”