(VitalNews.org) – Chicago locals are running out of patience regarding the migrant crisis impacting the city. The latest development to spark outrage is a discovery that the city paid a stunning $7.2 million to a single medical firm to pay for migrant shelter staff in a period of just four weeks in the spring of this year.
According to recently obtained invoices, the $7.2 million in one month went to an out-of-state medical staffing company called Favorite Healthcare Staffing. The invoices were obtained by Bennett Haeberle of NBC Chicago, who said he “had to fight” to get them. Haeberle said the invoices accounted for “400 employees” working for the contractor between April and May of 2023, some of whom made as much as $20,000 in a single week.
The Kansas-based company received more than $60 million in total over the last year, a staggering sum. Alderman of Chicago’s 25th ward, Byron Sigcho-López, called the situation “unacceptable” and accused the government of imposing the contractors on the city.
It was also revealed by the documents that Chicago has been handing out $9,000 to migrants to pay for rental assistance over a period of six months. The amount of migrants receiving these benefits is “unclear.” The costs include paying for apartment furnishings. It seems the city is desperate to find places to put the new arrivals as shelters are overcrowded, a problem also facing New York City and other metropolitan areas receiving border-crossers in droves.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson responded to the outrage by promising to seek local residents to staff illegal immigrant shelters. Johnson said a call was put out to hire residents and local businesses “to reduce the cost.”
So far, about $4 million has been allocated by the city toward helping the new arrivals find temporary shelter, and another whopping $38 from the state of Illinois.
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