Chicago mayor urges Biden to grant work permits to half million illegal immigrants

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on Thursday urged President Biden to grant work permits to nearly 500,000 illegal migrants living in the state. Johnson also said the city, which has roughly 2.7 million people, can "conservatively" welcome another 400,000 to 700,000 illegal migrants.

"We need the president to extend the same economic opportunities long term for our undocumented brothers and sisters, so they can build a better life here in the city of Chicago or wherever else they decide to live," Johnson said during a roundtable with urban business leaders. 

"I want to make this emphatically clear: Chicago will never turn its back on people who wish to call the city of Chicago their home," Johnson said.

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Johnson, whose one-year anniversary as mayor was also Thursday, said he penned a letter to the Biden administration, pushing harder for additional work permits, with the support of dozens of other city mayors, including Denver, New York, Seattle and San Francisco.

"I remain standing in my belief that a more inclusive and equitable future for all residents is truly possible, whether they arrived here yesterday or have been here for an extended period of time," he said.

The mayor added that even though the "humanitarian crisis" continues to overwhelm and "test the city," officials will not "waver in their commitment to the immigrant communities."

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As the slow rollout of work permits issued by the federal government has left big cities overwhelmed by the illegal migrant crisis and overcrowded shelters, city leaders have been urging the administration to grant more permits for additional arrivals and extend existing ones. This year's work permits expire on April 24.

In February, more than 40 mayors sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Ur Jaddou, calling for automatic extensions for existing work permits of at least 540 days.

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On Thursday, the administration announced an extension from 180 to 540 days for certain categories of illegal migrants "to help prevent renewal applicants from experiencing a lapse in their employment authorization and documentation." It's unclear how many of Chicago's illegal migrants will be eligible for those extensions.

Last year, Johnson faced backlash from Chicago residents at several city and community meetings who were frustrated by illegal migrants being dumped in their neighborhoods. More than 20,000 migrants have arrived in the city since August 2022 and thousands remain in shelters.