(NewsNation) — Two Chicago city councilmen want voters to consider the question of whether the city should keep its designation as a sanctuary city amid an influx of migrants that has overwhelmed shelters and police stations.
Alderperson Anthony Beale plans to introduce a resolution at next week’s city council meeting that would place a referendum on the March 2024 ballot. Alderperson Anthony Napolitano also backs the effort.
“I think we need to put the question to the people of Chicago; the taxpayers, the people that vote and let them decide,” Beale told NewsNation affiliate WGN-TV.
Chicago has a “Welcoming City Ordinance,” which means the city won’t ask people about their immigration status, disclose it to authorities or deny services based on it. The city also does not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deport people.
Undocumented immigrants will be detained by police only if they have active warrants or have been convicted of a “serious crime” or are a “clear threat to public safety or national security,” according to the ordinance.
The city has seen an uptick in the number of migrants since southern states, including Texas, began busing them north to major metros including Chicago, New York City and Denver.
Just this weekend, a record number of buses in a two-day period arrived in Chicago. Between Saturday and Sunday, the city received 12 total buses, including seven on Sunday alone.
“On top of the 12, we had 16 buses earlier in the week, so a total of 28 buses and 24 flights at O’Hare because we get two flights from San Antonio daily,” said Cristina Pacione-Zayas, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s first deputy chief of staff.
New data shows since the end of August 2022, more than 15,000 migrants have arrived in the city. As of Monday, 8,936 migrants remained in city shelters, while another 2,011 migrants awaited placement.
The city has been using police stations to temporarily house migrants. As of Monday, numbers showed the most overwhelmed police districts included the 9th District where 199 migrants are staying, the 12th District where 144 migrants are staying and the 1st District where 112 migrants are staying.
In order to get the sanctuary city status question on the ballot, Beale will need 26 alderpersons to vote for his resolution, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Given the number of allies the city’s progressive mayor has on the panel, it’s a tall task.
“You have people who have been living here their entire lives being denied basic services and goods. Yet we can find this kind of money to basically take it out back, put it in a barrel and burn it up. … The amount of money we’re spending is absurd,” Beale told the newspaper.
Alderperson Andre Vasquez, who chairs the City Council’s Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights, told Block Club Chicago the resolution could result in less productive conservations about how city governments handle migrant challenges.
“I think it’s beneath our city’s values,” Vasquez told the news outlet. “I do understand that because we’re facing these challenges, a lot of folks can be reactionary and this is what it looks like to me. The concern people have is less about being a sanctuary city and more of how we address the situation and the job any administration would do.”
NewsNation affiliate WGN-TV contributed to this report.