Illinois launches website to track taxpayer spending on migrants
Illinois has launched a new website to show how taxpayer dollars are being spent on migrants in the state.
Migrants who arrive in the sanctuary city of Chicago need to be fed, clothed and housed — all of which incur costs paid for by taxpayers. Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza said the public needs to be aware of these expenses, which she argues should be footed by the federal government.
"While the state is incurring expenses that, frankly, should be paid by the federal government, I want to make sure that taxpayers know exactly what the state is spending money on when it comes to the arrival and care of asylum seekers," Mendoza said in a statement.
The state has opened a new portal on the comptroller's website that shows amounts spent, lists vendor names and describes each expense.
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The total expenditures on asylum seekers in Illinois to date is $31,201,168, according to the tracker. That number is expected to grow in the coming days as more state agencies report their migrant-related expenditures.
Mendoza said having an accurate account of taxpayer spending on migrants will benefit everyone. In her statement, she encouraged the city of Chicago and Cook County to set up similar websites to track their spending.
"I believe that's one of the biggest issues right now is that there is a lot of money that's going out the door, whether it's the State of Illinois, which thankfully we are tracking, or Cook County or City of Chicago specifically and there have been quite a few stories that put into question whether or not those are the best use of taxpayer dollars when there's not a lot of transparency associated with them," Mendoza told FOX 32 Chicago.
"As we start to see greater influxes of migrants, which means greater resources that need to be allocated. We need to be able to keep a handle on those resources and really the best way to keep costs under control is to realize what those costs actually are."
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The portal was launched after Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced plans to allocate an additional $182 million in state funds to help illegal immigrants in Chicago. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has also committed up to $70 million more to the joint funding plan, totaling $252 million, to ensure migrants sent to Chicago from the Texas border will have access to wraparound services and healthcare.
That commitment comes on top of the state spending $160 million in November on "welcome, shelter and independence" for migrants and $478 million on the crisis before that.
More than 35,000 migrants have been transported to Chicago and its suburbs over the past year and a half. Despite this influx, recent data from the city indicates a decline in the number of migrants staying at shelters, with figures dropping below 13,000, the lowest point in months, according to Fox 32 Chicago.
The state’s funding proposal will be part of the governor's upcoming fiscal year 2025 budget proposal to the general assembly.
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Meanwhile, Cook County, the most populous county in the state located in the upper northeastern section of Illinois, has already committed more than $100 million in its current FY24 budget for new migrant costs, primarily for healthcare, and Preckwinkle has committed to working with Cook County commissioners to commit up to $70 million more for the joint funding plan.
With a population of around 5.2 million people, Cook County is the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, based on 2020 census figures. Illinois has a population of nearly 13 million.
Fox News' Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.