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-Great Cultural Revolution

Chicago Dem calls out city's mishandling of migrant crisis, urges for crime crackdown ahead of 2024 convention

2023-05-16

[FoxNews] Democratic Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez sounded off on the city's handling of the migrant crisis and the ongoing crime rates, expressing hope that the new mayor will turn things around in an interview with Fox News Digital.

Lopez slammed now-ousted Democratic Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot for failing to properly house the thousands of illegal immigrants that were bussed from the southern border by Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, questioning whether the monthly $20 million that was allotted over the past several months to combat the crisis was even spent, saying "we have no idea" what happened to that money.

"We were woefully underprepared in our efforts to help these individuals who are have been shipped to our city and I think many people have used them as pawns for political gains," Lopez told Fox News Digital. "The fact of the matter is this that we could have, with the amount of money we spent at this point, we could have built shelters for these people to be welcomed in, to get medical care for, to have housing for. But we haven't lived up to the moment… She's leaving it to the next administration of Brandon Johnson to contend with the humanitarian crisis that was delivered to her by Abbott, but made worse by her own ineptitude."

Lopez, perhaps the most vocal Lightfoot critics among Chicago Democrats who at one point threw his hat in the ring to challenge her in the mayoral race, said she "stoked racial fears and to further divide the city" by supplanting migrants into neighborhoods unbeknownst to community leaders, leaving many of the migrants to "find refuge in police district stations across the entire city."

Her administration, he said, refused to work with him in trying to give the migrants appropriate shelter, pointing to a field house located in his ward that could have housed up to nearly 300 migrants.

"This was a totally avoidable situation," Lopez said. "Had the city council, had the mayor chosen to act and instead of gaslighting everyone at every turn as opposed to pointing fingers at Greg Abbott or others- Look, Lori Lightfoot, her socialist enablers, they all said make this an unchecked, welcoming city. Somebody took us up on that offer, and now we are falling behind in what we said was our ideals in this city. And if we had planned and used our resources better, we wouldn't be in the midst of a humanitarian crisis now."

While still a staunch supporter of Chicago's sanctuary city policy, Lopez slammed Lightfoot-era "zero exceptions" reform that he said protected dangerous felons, murderers and gang members, something he hopes will be reversed in the next administration.

Lopez shed some light on his working relationship with newly-sworn in Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, telling Fox News Digital "I have actually spoken to him more times in the last three and a half weeks than I did Lori Lightfoot in four years."

"I am cautiously optimistic about the new administration," Lopez said, who had backed Johnson's opponent Paul Vallas in the mayoral run-off last month. "If I have a mayor who's willing to take my phone call, that at least gives me the opportunity to argue my case on whatever the policy discussion or issue that we have before us. And I have not had that opportunity for four years under the Lightfoot administration. So hopefully that bodes well for the rest of our relationship moving forward."

Posted by:Skidmark

#1 There will be a crime crackdown that will include removing all the homeless camps and otherwise hassling the career beggars. The gangs and such will take PTO time for a long weekend of non-crime in the interests of not provoking a threatened crack-down. Unaffiliated thieves will be jugged for 72 hours or so as administrative procedures wallow in molasses for unspecified but obvious reasons. Within 48 hours of the end of the convention status quo crime levels will return.

Posted by: Cromoth Prince of the Platypi9372 2023-05-16 22:12

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