Troubled St. Louis Plans To ‘Welcome All Migrants’ as Chicago, New York Reel From Immigrant Overload

As big cities such as Chicago and New York find themselves crushed by an influx of migrants, St. Louis’s government is planning to welcome these immigrants with open arms, The New York Sun has confirmed. “Sanctuary cities” in the midwest and northeast are struggling badly to find resources to fulfill their welcoming messages, as the mayors of Chicago and New York City — as well as the governor of Massachusetts — say they’re reaching full capacity and cannot guarantee shelter for the migrants that are coming by the busload from Texas — even if their laws compel them to provide shelter.Now, St. Louis, a city grappling with high crime and a decades-long decline in population, thinks it can come to nearby Chicago’s rescue. The International Institute of St. Louis, a nonprofit, is aiming to bring thousands of migrants — including many from Chicago — to St. Louis, with the hope that they can revitalize the city. St. Louis’s government appears likely to welcome and support the nonprofit’s program.“While the City has not had direct conversations regarding welcoming more migrants from Chicago, the city — and the larger metropolitan region — have worked with community partners to welcome immigrants, refugees, and New Americans to the St. Louis area,” an alderwoman, Daniela Velázquez, tells the Sun.St. Louis’s mayor, Tishaura Jones, who could not be reached by the Sun for comment, is “working to improve immigrants’ experience with our local government” by creating a first-of-its-kind “Office of New Americans,” Ms. Velázquez says. “I look forward to working with the administration and my colleagues at the Board of Aldermen to make sure St. Louis is a welcoming place for all,” she adds. Chicago has faced increasing pressure, protests, and legal action from residents who say the migrants are taking away resources from their communities, as the Sun has reported. More than 11,000 migrants are in Chicago’s shelters and 400 buses filled with them have arrived from Texas this year.The International Institute of St. Louis’s program is focused on attracting immigrants who have “already entered the country with the appropriate documents through the Biden parolee program,” the organization’s spokeswoman, Krissy Durant, tells The New York Sun, “as well as those who are work eligible.”Since President Biden’s parole program was initiated, more than 160,000 Latinos have entered the country, Ms. Durant adds. ”We are interested in welcoming them to our city, which has a relatively low cost of living and engaged labor market,” she says.The organizers of the program are partnering with labor unions to match immigrants with employers in need, Ms. Durant says.Since its peak in 1950, St. Louis’s population has decreased by 63 percent, leaving behind 25,000 abandoned properties, according to data from the St. Louis Vacancy Collaborative. The city has been gripped by crime, with the second-highest murder rate — following New Orleans — among large U.S. cities. The city’s boosters hope an influx of migrants will spark urban renewal, and help relieve Chicago of the pressure it’s facing. “It could be the potential for a great relationship between both cities,” the institute’s vice president, Karlos Ramirez, said. The migrants “are going to be in a better place, St. Louis is going to be in a better place, and Chicago is going to be in a better place, I think everybody wins.”The program, mostly funded by donations, would be similar to a 2021 Afghan refugee program, the developer of the idea, Jerry Schlichter, says, according to WBBM in Chicago. It would seek migrants who are looking to work, and would give them housing and job training services for three months.“We don’t want to make false promises that we can do something more than Chicago or New York have done for the people who cannot work, but for the people who have a work permit, we are offering them the opportunity to build their lives here,” Mr. Schlichter, who is also an attorney, said. Mr. Ramirez recently visited Chicago to see the migrant crisis firsthand and urge migrants to come to St. Louis, the same week as a delegation of Chicago representatives set off for the southern border. The delegation — which did not include Mayor Brandon Johnson, who stayed behind to address the “growing urgency” of the crisis — traveled to Texas to learn more and warn potential new arrivals to Chicago about the city’s lack of resources and incoming cold weather. The delegation returned north early last week to support Alderwoman Julia Ramirez, who was targeted Thursday in a protest against tent cities for migrants, an alderman, William Hall, said in an interview Friday. Chicago officials went to Texas to “share with them things that we need here in Chicago,” Mr. Hall, a member of the delegation, said, adding that the Texas cities are well funded by the federal government. “So there is not distress on their municipal governments the way we are in Chicago,” he said of the border towns. The delegation was attempting to learn more and take the migrant conversation to a more national level, Mr. Hall said. “If we do not get a federal, international border policy ASAP along with federal funding, the distress will continue not just in Chicago but all across America,” Mr. Hall said, urging Congress to act and the president to send aid to the city. “This is failed federal policy that’s showing up at the city level,” he said. “We’re dealing with the sins of Congress.”

Troubled St. Louis Plans To ‘Welcome All Migrants’ as Chicago, New York Reel From Immigrant Overload

Troubled St. Louis Plans To ‘Welcome All Migrants’ as Chicago, New York Reel From Immigrant Overload

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