Migrant Working Group Weighing "Moral and Practical" Challenges
Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (D-Glenview), who is chairing a House Democrat working group on the migrant crisis.
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The House Democrat tasked with leading a group of lawmakers to find consensus for the state’s response to the ongoing migrant crisis admits there are many questions, many challenges, and not a lot of money to be found.
Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (D-Glenview), was appointed by House Speaker Chris Welch to lead a working group on the issue. Gong-Gershowitz is a career immigration and human rights attorney.
As a guest on our The Illinoize Podcast, Gong-Gershowitz reiterated multiple times her belief the influx of asylum-seeking migrants being sent to Chicago from Texas is a “humanitarian” issue.
“When we talk about this issue, there are both moral and practical considerations. We’re talking about a humanitarian issue and, I think, it’s important not to politicize what is, fundamentally, a humanitarian issue,” she said. “The factors that drive migration, and the geopolitical dynamics that occur worldwide, are not under our control.
Because immigration is federal jurisdiction and the asylum seekers are here according to federal law, the state has no control over whether the migrants can or can’t be here. But, she says, it’s the federal government’s responsibility to come up with funding for the communities being impacted by the influx of people.
“Immigration, being a federal responsibility, should have significant ownership for the costs associated with the humanitarian needs that states are really called upon to address,” Gong-Gershowitz said. “I think its only fair to expect that states receive significant support in dealing with the humanitarian needs of [migrants] that are here in our state.”
But, absent that federal support, House Democrats want to find some money somewhere. But, where?
“I don’t think anyone is suggesting, and I would assume this applies to my friends on the other side of the aisle, that we would turn our backs on a mother and child freezing in a Chicago winter,” she said. “How do we do the best that we can with what we have and come up with a workable process? That’s really the challenge.”
Gong-Gershowitz was non-committal on a short term appropriation to assist the City of Chicago’s struggle to address the crisis, but says “everything is on the table.”
With a nearly billion dollar deficit projected in the state budget for the next fiscal year, Gong-Gershowitz admits finding a pot of money for the crisis could be difficult.
“I acknowledge the practical limitations of resources,” she said. “Those are hard conversations. We have had those hard conversations and we have made those tough decisions. We have met impossible challenges before and we’ve done so in a way that hasn’t left anyone behind. This is another challenge.”
No Republicans were invited to join the working group, and Gong-Gershowitz says they aren’t involved because the working group is designed to get Democrats on the same page.
“As you can imagine, a meeting with 78 [Democratic members] to try and arrive at consensus would be challenging,” Gong-Gershowitz said. “So the working group process has worked effectively for us, as a caucus.”
She didn’t lay out a time frame for a solution from the working group, but, as the crisis continues, the work may be “ongoing.”
You can watch Gong-Gershowitz’s interview on The Illinoize Podcast below: