A well-known Chicago activist has called for Donald Trump to ‘come in here and clean up this mess,’ decrying the influx of migrants and urging authorities to ‘send them all back.’
George Blakemore, 81, has for the last 40 years attended every public meeting he can, from City Council to the Chicago Board of Education to the Water Reclamation District, Block Club Chicago reported.
Earlier this month, at a city council hearing to discuss putting Chicago’s sanctuary city status on the ballot in March, Blakemore spoke out against Chicago’s current policy towards migrants.
More than 26,000 migrants have arrived in Chicago over the past year by bus and plane, with about 14,000 currently in shelters. Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, has sent migrants from his state to Democrat-run cities in the north, in a bid to pressure Joe Biden to take action.
The cities are struggling to cope – and in Chicago a five-year-old boy died in a freezing and damp Chicago shelter on Sunday, and many are sleeping in O’Hare airport or police station lobbies.
Blakemore, who is black, said the situation was untenable.
George Blakemore, 81, is pictured on December 14 addressing a meeting of the Chicago city council, where they discussed whether to put ending the sanctuary city status to a vote
Blakemore has been attending public meetings in Chicago for 40 years, becoming well known for his views
‘I am anti-illegal immigrant,’ he said at the December 14 meeting. ‘Send them all back across the Rio Grande.’
He yelled: ‘We are the only people in America who were enslaved. We didn’t come over waiting and looking for something. When we came we built this country, on free labor.
‘To see another group come over here – it’s disgraceful, it’s un-American.’
He asked the council: ‘What about the black children? The black workers? They compete with us.’
Blakemore continued: ‘I am strictly advocating for black people. Call ICE on them.
‘Trump, come in here and clean this mess up. The most corrupt city in the United States is the city of Chicago.’
Another activist, who gave her name as Lorraine Lawrence, agreed with Blakemore.
‘I’m not for the sanctuary city,’ she said. ‘People have waited years to come in here legally. Not just come in on the buses. This is ludicrous.
‘West Side and South Side black communities have been earmarked for having funds, but never seen it.’
She added: ‘Is it fair to these communities that have been waiting for years?’
Lorraine Lawrence said she was against the sanctuary city declaration, as she said it was unfair
Nelly Musajeva, a neurobiology student at Dominican University, called for the current policy to remain
But others said the current sanctuary city status should remain.
Nelly Musajeva, a neurobiology student at Dominican University, said she was undocumented, and said it would be wrong to expel law-abiding citizens such as herself.
Miwa Shimokogawa, a graphic designer and activist with Asian Americans Advancing Justice, said the sanctuary city designation made everyone safer.
‘It will sow further distrust between communities of color and police,’ she said. ‘Meanwhile, it will do nothing to stop the buses coming from the south.’
Council members then voted on whether to put on the March primary ballot the question: ‘Should the city of Chicago continue to keep its designation as a Sanctuary City?’
They voted 31-16 against putting the question to the electorate.
Mayor Brandon Johnson had ordered his lieutenants to quash a bid to put the controversial ‘Welcoming City Ordinance’ to a referendum – and in November his floor leader was forced to resign for physically blocking opponents trying to access a previous vote on the issue.
Alderman Anthony Beale, who is trying to get the question on the ballot, accused his opponents of being scared to the facts.
‘What are you scared of? To let the people have a voice? The truth?’ he asked after the vote.
‘That’s all this question is asking, is to let the people have a say.’
Alderman Anthony Beale accused the Democrat leadership of cowardice as his bid to put sanctuary city status to a public vote was defeated 31 to 16 in the council chamber
Mayor Brandon Johnson ordered his lieutenants to quash a bid to put the controversial ‘Welcoming City Ordinance’ to a referendum on Chicago’s March primary ballot
The migrants who have arrived in the city after crossing the Mexican border since August last year have sought shelter in parks, police stations and the city airport
The city expects to spend $300 million this year on coping with more than 24,000 migrants who have arrived in the city after crossing the Mexican border since August last year.
It spent nearly $1 million on a tent camp in Brighton Park before tests revealed the soil was too poisonous to live on, and more than 3,000 migrants are still waiting for shelter as arctic winter temperatures start to bite.
City authorities have faced a furious backlash from residents as parks and public facilities have been commandeered to house the newcomers who are still arriving at a rate of 700 a week.
Around 300 are still living on the floors of Chicago’s police stations, and conditions are so bad across the city that some have decided to return home to South America.
Sanctuary city status means that city officials are forbidden from asking questions about a person’s immigration status, or revealing it to federal authorities.
Police in the city are not allowed to arrest anyone solely because they are an illegal immigrant, and the city will not co-operate with an investigation by immigration authorities unless ordered to by a court.
More than 560 cities, states and counties across the US have declared themselves sanctuaries, and Chicago adopted the status in 1985.
Stunning images have shown droves of migrants traversing difficult terrain and wading through the Rio Grande river on their way over the southern border
O’Hare International Airport accommodated hundreds of migrants in a screened off area as the crisis gathered steam this summer
The meeting was to discuss whether the city should ask voters in March if Chicago should remain a sanctuary city as the it continues being overwhelmed with more than 26,000 newly arrived migrants
But fears for the thousands of migrants still unsheltered are growing as temperatures drop and the viciously cold Chicago winter starts to bite
Sanctuary cities have been a favorite target of governors on the southern border who have bussed thousands of migrants north to them as the migration crisis has gathered steam.
Johnson was among five Democratic city mayors who headed to DC to beg the Biden administration for $5 billion in federal funds to deal with the issue.
‘Our cities need additional resources that far exceed the amount proposed in order to properly care for the asylum seekers entering our communities,’ they wrote.
‘Relying on municipal budgets is not sustainable and has forced us to cut essential city services.’
Johnson accused his opponents of ‘meanness’ and claimed a public vote on sanctuary status would do nothing to address the strain from migrants.
‘This is a crisis, and as I’ve said, it’s not going to go away because people are upset,’ he told reporters after the December 14 vote.
‘Now unfortunately, you have individuals that have used this as a way to execute its meanness.
‘That type of meanness has caused the type of strife that we’re experiencing now.’
But Beale accused the mayor of cowardice.
‘It is a shame that you all are scared,’ he told the city council meeting.
‘Are we afraid that the people are going to tell us that we are spending money frivolously in this body?
‘Are we afraid that the people are going to tell us that we are headed in the wrong direction?
‘I figured you all had something up your sleeve, but let me just say that it is a shame.’