SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Gov. JB Pritzker is stepping in to help the city of Chicago provide shelter for asylum seekers this winter. The Pritzker administration is investing $160 million to address the crisis.

"The state that took in my ancestors, fleeing pogroms in Ukraine, will not allow asylum seekers to freeze to death on our doorsteps," Pritzker told reporters Thursday. "This is where we are right now. They are cold, so we will keep them warm. They are hungry, so we will feed them."

Over 24,000 asylum seekers have arrived in Chicago over the past 14 months as Republican governors in southern states continue to send migrants to Democrat-controlled cities.

"With Congress likely unwilling to act and with lives of innocent people at stake, the hurdles we face seem far beyond the scope of any one state," Pritzker said. "Yet, everything we can do we must do."

The Illinois Department of Human Services is now providing $30 million to build a large intake center to welcome and coordinate new arrivals to Chicago. $65 million has been allocated to help the city launch a winterized soft shelter site to provide temporary housing for up to 2,000 people over the next six months.

A separate $65 million will help expand wraparound services to enable migrants to live independently while they wait for asylum hearings. The state will move thousands of migrants through the federal temporary protect status and employment authorization document processes as quickly as possible. Pritzker said this can help the asylum seekers to get jobs and achieve self-sufficiency.

"They are men, women and children made in the image of God that are fleeing horrific situations and coming to Chicago to find the hope, healing, opportunity, and community that we all have found here in our great city," said Matt DeMateo, Executive Director of New Life Centers of Chicagoland. 

Illinois' asylum seeker rental assistance program will also now only cover three months of rent instead of six months of housing payments. Kirstin Chernawsky, leading the DHS response to the humanitarian crisis in Illinois, said this move will allow any migrants currently in shelters to access the program.

"So, the folks that are in shelter that have been demonstrating that they are working towards finding independent housing will have access to that program," Chernawsky explained. "This allows us to tell all new arrivals there is no more emergency rental assistance available."

Yet, the state will still support new arrivals through searching for housing, tenant rights and communication between tenants and landlords.

The Pritzker administration explained the $160 million will come from line items in the Department of Human Services budget. Still, state lawmakers may have to approve a supplemental budget in January to address the ongoing crisis.

House Republican lawmakers were furious following the announcement of the new funding. House GOP Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savanna) said legislators were in Springfield for two weeks of veto session and were available to discuss any proposed solutions to the migrant emergency. McCombie noted that her caucus has been flagging the issue for months and criticized Democrats for just learning of the big ideas for the first time through the press.

"The legislature and Illinois taxpayers deserve a voice in the policies and funding of migrant programs," McCombie said. 

Meanwhile, Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer (R-Murrayville) noted that the Pritzker administration has already spent $478 million on the migrant crisis. Davidsmeyer claimed the new $160 million investment will take funding away from essential services for residents across the state.

"DHS provides vitally needed services to our developmentally disabled community, senior citizens, and children in need of our support," Davidsmeyer said. "We have children sleeping on the floors of state agencies because we can't afford to place them in proper settings. Governor Pritzker wants to spend $160 million to resettle migrants in Chicago while Illinois children have no place to go."

House Republicans recently called for lawmakers to end Illinois' status as a sanctuary state for undocumented immigrants. The 2017 Illinois Trust Act prohibits law enforcement from participating in immigration enforcement. Davidsmeyer and other colleagues said Illinois taxpayers cannot continue to pay for free healthcare and housing of undocumented immigrants.

"The state of Illinois gives illegal immigrants free healthcare benefits, driver's licenses, and housing assistance," Davidsmeyer said. "People illegally crossing our border are treated better than our own citizens. That is the crisis." 

However, the Pritzker administration said they are dedicated to ensuring there is collaboration between city and state agencies during the humanitarian crisis. 

"As our new neighbors continue to arrive in Chicago and areas across Illinois, we want to ensure they are safe, treated with dignity, and have access to the resources they need to care for themselves and their families," said Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton. 

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