$160 million allotted for aid to migrants in Chicago

As winter quickly approaches, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced plans Thursday for the state to spend an additional $160 million to aid and house a sustained influx of migrants sent to Chicago from the nation’s southern border.

The administration sold the plan as a three-phase approach: “welcome, shelter, independence” — aimed at meeting the needs of migrants based on how long they’ve been in Chicago and whether they’re planning to stay.

The state will spend $65 million to create a winterized “soft shelter site” to address severe shortages in the city’s shelter system, and another $65 million to assist with legal and housing assistance to resettle the migrants. Another $30 million would go to launch in intake center.

“With Congress likely unwilling to act and with lives of innocent people at stake, the hurdles we face seem far beyond the scope of any one state and yet everything we can do, we must do,” Pritzker said at a news conference…