Progressive Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is pressing President Joe Biden to grant work permits to the half-million illegal immigrants living in the city.
According to a report by Fox 32 Chicago, the Democratic mayor held a roundtable discussion Thursday at the Chicago Urban League, where he stated that a massive granting of work permits would help end the labor shortage and improve working conditions for all workers.
"We need the president to extend the same economic opportunities long term for our undocumented brothers and sisters, so they can build a better life here in the city of Chicago or wherever else they decide to live," said Johnson, who also commented that Chicago can host "conservatively" another 400,000-700,000 illegal immigrants.
"I want to make this emphatically clear: Chicago will never turn its back on people who wish to call the city of Chicago their home," said the Democrat, who celebrated one year in office this Thursday.
In his speech, Johnson said he joined other mayors from cities including New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Denver in writing a letter to the Biden administration to push for additional work permits.
The progressive mayor's request comes at a time of maximum tension due to the immigration crisis, which continues to worsen as the daily arrival of illegal migrants to the southern border increases.
The immigration crisis is such that not only the border states are collapsing, but cities like New York, Washington and Chicago are entirely overwhelmed by the massive influx of illegal migrants arriving from the border.
Therefore, leaders in the most affected cities believe that granting work permits could relieve overcrowded migrant shelters. However, critics say that this would encourage more border crossings.
