Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on Thursday announced they will seek an additional $250 million from the state and county to respond to Chicago’s migrant crisis.
It’s an agreement noticeably missing a key partner — the city of Chicago.
And it comes after Pritzker, Preckwinkle and Mayor Brandon Johnson met in January and earlier this month to discuss how to fund efforts to fight the crisis.
According to a source briefed on the discussions, Johnson initially agreed to ask the City Council for more funds but backed off.
During a news conference Thursday afternoon, the mayor pushed back and asked a reporter if she was “making an assertion that I made a promise.” He also declined to answer repeatedly whether the city will commit to new funding.
“All I’m saying is that no one in this city — let’s make it broader — no one in the state of Illinois, in this country, is questioning Mayor Brandon Johnson’s commitment to this mission,” Johnson said.
But Johnson’s commitment is indeed being questioned — and has been a source of friction between the offices of the mayor and governor.
In a statement announcing the joint funding agreement, Pritzker said “It is clear the state, county, and city will have to do more to keep people safe.”
When asked why the city was not part of the funding agreement, Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said cost projections were made in collaboration with the county and city, with both Pritzker and Preckwinkle agreeing to ask for more money.
“You will have to ask the city what their plans are for the remaining $70 million that all parties have agreed is needed to fund this humanitarian response,” Abudayyeh said in a statement.
Pritzker and Preckwinkle say they will commit more than $250 million to ensure shelter, wraparound services and health care for migrants being sent to Chicago from the Texas border.
More than 35,000 migrants have been transported to Chicago since the crisis began in August 2022.
The Democratic governor will ask the Illinois General Assembly for an additional $182 million — and that will be part of an ask in his budget address in Springfield next week.
The state has spent $478 million since the beginning of the migrant influx in 2022. In November, the state committed $160 million to help with a welcome center and other areas. Lawmakers still must fund that amount through a supplemental bill, which is not expected until after the March 19 primary.
Cook County has already committed more than $100 million in its current fiscal budget for new arrival-related costs, primarily for health care, and Preckwinkle said she will ask the Cook County Board of Commissioners for an additional $70 million.
“We cannot wait for additional resources, and Cook County is proud to stand alongside Gov. Pritzker in this joint funding plan, ensuring that shelter capacity, health care and wraparound services remain accessible to those in need,” Preckwinkle said in a statement.
The new funding plan will help maintain shelter capacity and continue wraparound and health care services, both offices said in a joint news release.
Johnson’s $16.7 billion budget included just $150 million for a migrant crisis now costing the city $40 million a month.
The mayor last year said he budgeted the $150 million to keep political heat on the state and federal governments to do more to help Chicago with a crisis that he asserted no major city is equipped to handle.
Divisions over funding are also causing tension in other Democratic cities. New York City Mayor Eric Adams last week asked the state to pick up half of the city’s migrant costs, plus $600 million.
“New Yorkers are already carrying most of the asylum seekers. It is wrong to ask them to do more,” Adams said during a hearing in Albany.
