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Durbin and the rest of the delegation need to stop this

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* Michael Loria at the Sun-Times…

Many, like Davila, told the Sun-Times they came to Chicago at the recommendation of Catholic Charities in San Antonio. […]

Leaders at Catholic Charities in San Antonio have said sending migrants via plane [to Chicago] is more humane than busing them, which can be a lengthy journey, during which one migrant toddler died in August.

“How would you feel about being in a bus for two days without knowing the language?” asked Antonio Fernandez, CEO of the San Antonio nonprofit. […]

The plane tickets are paid for using funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Fernandez said. The nonprofit has been awarded $48 million through FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program since December. That’s compared to about $7 million awarded to Chicago, according to FEMA.

Those funds are spent on staffing the welcoming center to ensure they deliver “trauma-informed care,” according to Fernandez, but most is spent on transportation.

So, they’re using most of their federal funding to send people to Chicago, while Chicago receives a pittance out of that same federal pot.

That’s gotta be the dumbest thing I’ve yet seen about this entire mess.

…Adding… To be clear here, since some of y’all are getting off on tangents in comments, the federal government needs to stop funding the uncoordinated shipping of asylum-seekers to other states.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 11:43 am

Comments

== but most is spent on transportation==

That’s not a very charitable response by Catholic Charities to this problem. They of course can’t handle the mass influx themselves but they are in fact part of the problem if they are taking the majority of their funding to ship people out rather than offer them services and shelter.

Comment by Demoralized Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 11:48 am
quoting my husband….”Religion….”

Comment by Amalia Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 11:48 am
It’s one reason all the recent comments about the benevolence of the archdiocese ring a little underinformed, IMO

Comment by Stephanie Kollmann Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 11:49 am
Surprised. But totally not surprised.

How church going of all of them.

Comment by Cool Papa Bell Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 11:58 am
Beside being “dumb” it is also a false argument to suggest this is a Catholic Charities thing. It is lone diocese thing.

If one diocese is coordinating with another diocese and with the church writ-large, it becomes a Catholic Charities (plural) thing.

Here I am afraid we have a Southwestern, conservative diocese doing its own thing without coordinating its efforts through the Church. That lack of coordination is partially responsible for the crisis being worse than it need be.

Comment by H-W Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 12:03 pm
I’ve recently changed my automatic response to such things from “unbelievable [exclamation mark]” to “believable.” It’s a more accurate utterance of exasperation.

They are flying and busing children to sleep on sidewalks in front of police stations in Chicago as the chill of fall grows. What is wrong with people? (Rhetorical question, of course.)

Comment by Leslie K Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 12:04 pm
“If one diocese is coordinating with another diocese and with the church writ-large, it becomes a Catholic Charities (plural) thing.”

You should re-read the groups in that Joliet grant application more closely.

There’s a familiar name in there.

Lost within all the people saying they didn’t know anything about being included, is one who hasn’t said a word.

Better all the attention falls elsewhere instead of on them, ya know?

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 12:07 pm
There is no one easy answer to address this crisis. A good first start is expediting the work permit process for so many migrants who are more than ready to work. I don’t understand why the federal government can’t do that.

Comment by Chicago Voter Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 12:12 pm
There’s nothing wrong with taking long-distance buses. Thousands of Americans take Greyhound, Trailways, etc. every day.

Comment by StarLineChicago Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 12:12 pm
Seems like The Soup and guy in SPI should be at O’Hara to greet, house and feed

Comment by Steve Brown Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 12:13 pm
NIMBY but with humans.

Comment by Franklin Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 12:15 pm
- “How would you feel about being in a bus for two days without knowing the language?” -

Some of these people just walked 4000 miles through the jungle. This may be the most moronic question anyone has ever asked.

Comment by Excitable Boy Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 12:16 pm
===A good first start is===

For the federal government to immediately stop funding uncoordinated transport.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 12:17 pm
Question, are they encouraging migrants to go to Chicago or just assisting them with their own stated goal? To my thinking the answer matters a lot. If those families have no plans sending them to Chicago in Oct without a shelter waiting is immoral. However if they WANT to go to Chicago helping them avoid a cross country hitchhiking trip or a buss ride is a worthy goal. A flight is safer for them quicker and gets them where they desire to go. Those individuals are allowed to move throughout the Nation right now so they can choose where they want to go. Chicago in Winter would not be my choice but I’m not them and Chicago has told them they are welcome.

Just my 2c.

Comment by Mason born Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 12:22 pm
this is just more proof that the U.S. can’t handle the flow of people accepting our unstated, but clear, invitation to come.
it will only get worse under the current approach.
the question is how much worse does it have to get before those in charge get serious about stopping it.

Comment by jim Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 12:25 pm
How much money does Texas itself receive from the Fed to do all this immigration?
Why aren’t Durbin, Duckworth, Quigley, Kelly, Davis, Jackson, Chuy, Schakowsky all not asking for money to be diverted from Texas to Chicago?

Comment by Frida's boss Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 12:31 pm
@Jim: they’re not coming because they were invited, encouraged, or mistakenly thought they’d just be happier here. They’re coming because they can’t stay where they were. It’s a push, not a pull. But thanks for illustrating part of the problem.

Another part of the problem is that Dems haven’t formed a plan. We all know the Republican plan: build a wall, separate the children, shove them back. Why, after all this time, the Dems haven’t come up with their own plan is one of the great political failures of the decade.

Comment by Socially DIstant watcher Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 12:37 pm
I thought I read here before that New York and Denver were using FEMA to send migrants here too so it is not just Catholic Charities and i would not be surprised if it spreads

Comment by DuPage Saint Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 12:43 pm
“more humane than”

Moving people across the country for who knows what reason is inhumane regardless of the mode of transport.

Comment by Anon E Moose Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 12:48 pm
===Question, are they encouraging migrants to go to Chicago or just assisting them with their own stated goal?===

Please don’t be so lazy. Click the freaking link before asking basic questions like this.

“Many, like Davila, told the Sun-Times they came to Chicago at the recommendation of Catholic Charities in San Antonio.”

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 12:50 pm
Rich

Fair I missed that one. My mistake. I apologize.

Comment by Mason born Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 1:03 pm
==at the recommendation of Catholic Charities in San Antonio==

In keeping with the season, this is the childhood equivalent of saying “Chicago is giving out whole candy bars (exclamation point)” The only difference being Texas is using FEMA money to bring them to the doorstep.

Comment by Jocko Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 2:03 pm
Back at you social distance

You said, “Another part of the problem is that Dems haven’t formed a plan. …Why, after all this time, the Dems haven’t come up with their own plan is one of the great political failures of the decade.”

don’t mean to be disagreeable. but you don’t seem to recognize that what’s going on is their plan. it’s just not working well.

Comment by jim Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 2:25 pm
This is a federal issue and should have been addressed at that level months ago. The Biden admin has had plenty of time and our Congressional delegation is not a bunch of neophytes. I have a lot of respect for Durbin, but this is a stain on his record.

Immigrants & interstate commerce are clearly Federal issues. The Catholic Church could also take a role here, as the Good Book says they should. The Catholic leaders in TX could coordinate with their peers around the country and send migrants by bus (allowing them to use additional resources for migrant support) to places around the country without overburdening any location.

This mess is, in large part, an issue of logistics. We are a very large country with plenty of resources and a high demand for the services these migrants could provide. Looking at the migrants as a problem is a disservice to them and to our country.

Comment by Pot calling kettle Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 2:32 pm
I will be surprised if Durbin is able to do anything.

Comment by DuPage Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 2:50 pm
-jim- it’s just not working well.

Yes it is working well, as they expected. Its their goal of Cloward - Piven Strategy in action.
This crises is on purpose.

Comment by SOIL M Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 2:55 pm
===The Catholic Church could also take a role here===…

The Catholic schools in Chicago have offered to let the city use their vacant school buildings for free.

Comment by DuPage Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 3:01 pm
==The Catholic schools in Chicago have offered to let the city use their vacant school buildings for free.==

They are sending migrants here from Texas. I don’t know what stops them from greeting the migrants at the airport and taking them directly to the housing they could set up in those buildings. Why wait for the city or state or anyone else?

Comment by Pot calling kettle Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 3:12 pm
===Why wait for the city or state or anyone else? ===

They want a security commitment and can’t get a response.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 3:14 pm
One family is told that there is a shelter for them in Minnesota. So Catholic Charities San Antonio flies them to Chicago? Were all the flights to Minneapolis booked?

Comment by Jaguar Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 3:21 pm
I don’t have the time to pursue this myself at the moment, but I really wonder about the federal contract/grant that an organization receives in order to provide whatever services to refugees or migrants that is fulfilled by putting those migrants on a plane or on a chartered bus and just dropping them off/stranding them somewhere else.

While this practice should be immediately stopped until a response can be coordinated before we have people dying of exposure in Chicago because they were loaded on a plane with no plan in place for what happened once they landed, how badly worded was the grant/contract that allows the organization to succeed in meeting the obligations it has under the grant money by just making them someone else’s problem.

I guess we should be asking the Pope about this? I’m sure he has some thoughts.

Comment by Candy Dogood Thursday, Oct 12, 23 @ 4:51 pm