Chicago mayor boots public from rowdy city meeting as residents object to migrant 'invasion'
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson booted members of the public from a city meeting on his proposed 2025 budget on Monday after residents vocally protested against extensive funding for migrants.
While Johnson's 2025 budget narrowly passed on Monday, it was only after the mayor ordered a temporary recess to allow police to clear residents from the hall to allow council members to vote.
It took six weeks of debate for Johnson to secure the 26 votes necessary to pass the budget plan, with the opposition succeeding in removing a proposed $300 million property tax.
The plan also adopts a $40 million short-term loan that allows the city to delay paying off its debt, a major point of criticism for many of the protesters.
"You caused all this money to go to illegal immigrants," one resident told Johnson during the public comment period. "Anything that you all pass is not genuine."
Another resident accused Johnson of failing to "protect the people of Chicago from invasion."
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"He wants to pull a $40 million line of credit and put the city in even more debt," another resident said. "It's your fault, because you gave half of the money to illegals."
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Johnson also faced criticism over hiring too many staffers and paying them too much. Chicago reporter William Kelly told Fox News that Johnson has enlisted more than 100 staffers and each of them has a six-figure salary. He also argued many of the positions appear frivolous.
"The vice mayor, a guy named Alderman Burnett, convicted of bank robbery, armed robbery, spent time in jail, he's getting paid in addition to his aldermanic salary almost half a mil to be ‘vice mayor,’ which essentially has no duties or responsibilities other than waiting to possibly become mayor if something were to happen to Mayor Johnson," Kelly said.
The frustration around Johnson's immigration policies has also reached the ears of President-elect Trump's incoming administration. Tom Homan, Trump's nominee for border czar in the new administration, sent a warning to Chicago that it will be one of the first to see deportations.
"Chicago is in trouble because your mayor sucks and your governor sucks. And we're going to start right here in Chicago, Illinois," Homan said last week.
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"Now, if your Chicago mayor doesn't want to help, he can step aside. But if he impedes us, if he knowingly harbors or conceals an illegal alien, I will prosecute him," he threatened.