What’s behind the migrant crisis in the US? From lax immigration laws and open-border policies to understaffing and intermittent enforcement, there’s plenty of blame to go around. But Chicago’s new mayor, Democrat Brandon Johnson, has another theory. He blames right-wing extremists and racism for the Windy City’s immigration problem – but Mayor Johnson is a man with a plan.
Chicago’s Migrant Issue Caused by the Right?
Last week, Johnson announced the city’s new Unity Initiative during a press conference. The program partners with churches to help migrants find housing and other needs. Then, on the heels of revealing a Christian project, the mayor went on a rant about how right-wing extremists are to blame for the way everyone is mishandling the migrant crisis:
“What we have seen is a raggedy form instituted by right-wing extremism. Everyone knows that the right-wing extremism in this country has targeted Democratically-ran cities and quite frankly, they’ve been very intentional about going after Democratically-ran cities that are led by people of color.”
But Mayor Johnson wasn’t finished. He added:
“Their whole motivation is to create disruption and chaos because that’s what this particular party has been about. This is the same political party that did not want to accept that President Obama was actually an American. It’s the same Republican right-wing extremism that stormed the Capitol. It’s the same right-wing extremism that refuses to accept the results of the Civil War. It’s raggedy. It’s disrespectful it’s mean spirited. It’s an unclean spirit, quite frankly.”
(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
And after that rip session, Johnson said: “That’s why it’s so important that the faith community is leaning in at this moment.”
As of the middle of November, there were more than 20,000 migrants in Chicago, which puts a strain on the city’s finances and creates a challenge in finding shelter for them. The immigrants have been camping out in tents and sleeping in police stations and wherever else they can find room.
So, after partnering with churches and blaming right-wing racism for the problem, Johnson tried to house migrants at a tent camp in Brighton Park. What’s wrong with that, you ask? An environmental report revealed the soil is contaminated with metals and other chemicals. The site is funded by the state, expected to open by the middle of December, cost $65 million to build, and will hold up to 2,200 asylum seekers.
The mayor’s office told ABC7 that crews are already removing the contaminants and that the area is safe for temporary housing. Theresa Reyes McNamara with the Southwest Environmental Alliance, however, wants Johnson to reconsider. She said the asylum seekers have gone through so much to reach the US, only to find themselves shuffled off to “a piece of property that’s dirty.”
Media Blame Right-Wingers
MSNBC concurred with the Chicago mayor’s claim about the migrant crisis, saying: “Mayor Johnson was undeniably correct that right-wingers are using the migrant crisis to fuel racial tensions and anti-migrant sentiment.”
Jesse Watters, a commentator for Fox News, took a different position and claimed that black Chicagoans are being replaced by Hispanic migrants because, in part, they have more children. During an episode of The Five, he said he didn’t understand why the mayor thinks whites or conservatives are mad at him:
“Blacks are mad at the Black mayor because he’s turned the Southside of Chicago into Latin America. No one can even move in that neck of the woods because they’re just flooded with migrants. And, you have to understand, the Black community in Chicago is feeling that they’re being replaced. And they have said this. They’ve said that they’re Americans, and you’re importing a population there, and they’re crowding them out of schools, they’re crowding them out of soccer fields, out of basketball courts, out of jobs.”
Watters went on to explain:
“They [Hispanic migrants] are having a lot of children. They are coming to the country. They’re going to replace the political power of the Black community within the Democratic Party.”
The Fox News commentator predicted that Johnson will “fail just like all these other progressive mayors.”
Blaming a political party or racism on the migrant crisis is nothing new. But Mayor Johnson seems to be taking a page out of President Joe Biden’s “unity” book, calling for an accord to find solutions while, in the next breath, condemning others with differing beliefs.
