Chicago City Wire

On the final working day preceding the New Year's Eve weekend, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson disclosed his administration's intention to utilize $95 million in federal COVID relief grants. The allocated funds are set to cover a portion of the costs associated with housing tens of thousands of asylum-seeking migrants.

Johnson's top aides informed the Sun-Times that this move by City Hall is in anticipation of a "budget surplus to close out the year." Despite having unsuccessfully lobbied the Biden White House for $15 billion in funding to address the nationwide migrant crisis, Johnson remains committed. In an emailed statement, he justified his decision to use federal COVID funding for the city's migrant crisis response, stating that he is "allocating federal funds to deal with a federal problem."

The first business day of the new year saw aldermen criticize Mayor Johnson's executive decision to reallocate federal money without City Council approval.

Alderman Anthony Beale, who has been at the forefront of a City Council initiative seeking greater oversight of city spending amid the ongoing migrant crisis, expressed his disapproval to NBC5. He likened Johnson's proposal to "playing a shell game with millions of dollars."

"COVID relief money was supposed to go toward relief for the people of Chicago, not migrants who are migrating to our city," Beale said. "It is supposed to help businesses, people who lost loved ones, and resources we lost during the COVID pandemic."

Longtime Alderman Scott Waguespack also voiced concerns about transparency regarding Mayor Johnson's allocation of funds. Speaking with NBC5, Waguespack recalled how during former Mayor Lori Lightfoot's term, every expenditure related to COVID was voted on.

"We knew we needed $150 million to deal with the migrant situation," Waguespack said. "He’s pulling $95 million from something. In the last administration, we voted for everything (with COVID money)."

Mayor Johnson has appeared on national media outlets such as CBS "Face the Nation" and CNN, where he criticized Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott for dispatching migrants to Illinois without liaising with local government. Johnson labeled this a "very dangerous task." He also told Margaret Brennan of "Face the Nation" that Abbott "is determined to continue to sow seeds of chaos."

In a social media post, Chicago Alderman Ray Lopez predicted that Mayor Johnson's handling of the migrant crisis could lead to his political downfall.

"By the time the @USTreasury declares the expenses ineligible & orders Chicago taxpayers to swallow the $95M, we will have a new mayor," Lopez wrote.