Johnson's novel approach may win him a place in the Democrat Grifter Hall of Fame
One wonders if the City of Chicago had any idea how expensive it would be to pass its sanctuary city ordinance. We are told that Boston Mayor Michelle Wu spent $160,000 in preparation for her appearance before Congress on the subject. Well, we don’t know how much our own Mayor Brandon Johnson spent, but seeing as he’s the first Chicago mayor in 17 years to appear before the klieg lights and TV cameras of Congress, we do know he is not going anywhere in any kind of raggedy condition. This is a man whose hair and makeup are very expensive — not to mention any executive coaching and communications consulting he received.
It seems like an awful lot of money just to deny reality before Congress — because that’s all Johnson and his three fellow mayors did while they were on the Hill.
A brief history of Chicago’s sanctuary status
Johnson, of course, can hide behind the oldest refuge of the scoundrel: blaming the situation on his predecessors. This one goes back quite a while.
Chicago’s commitment to being a sanctuary city began in 1985 when Mayor Harold Washington issued an executive order prohibiting city employees from enforcing federal immigration laws. This policy was later strengthened in 2006 with the passage of the Welcoming City Ordinance, which codified protections for undocumented residents and ensured their access to city services without fear of deportation.
Welcoming — it has such a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? Easy pander to Hispanics, right? Doesn’t cost anything, right?
Of course, this was before Joe Biden opened the floodgates to “asylum seekers.”
Regarding the financial impact, the city has incurred significant expenses related to its sanctuary city status, particularly in addressing the recent influx of migrants. Since September 2022, Chicago has spent approximately $638.7 million on vendor contracts to support new arrivals. Mayor Johnson indicated that these expenditures represent roughly one percent of the city’s budget over the past four years.
And guess what? A lot of people don’t like it. Hispanic citizens, for one. Black citizens, for another. And you can bet the notorious SDG (Stacy Davis Gates) doesn’t like those asylum seekers taking money out of her union members’ pockets.
Now, speaking of SDG, you could argue that if it weren’t for the asylum seekers, she would’ve grabbed all that cash anyway. And I would find it hard to argue with you. But that’s not what we’re here to talk about today. That’s not what they were in Washington, D.C., to talk about.
The congressional hearing
The liberal press is all aflutter about “Mayor Johnson Forcefully Defending Chicago’s Sanctuary Status During Congressional Hearing,” as Block Club (BC) so artfully phrased it. You will not be surprised to learn that we have a different view.
According to Block Club, “Johnson faced numerous GOP attacks — including digs at his low approval rating — during Wednesday’s hearing as both Republicans and Democrats used the opportunity to give political stump speeches on immigration.”
Johnson had to “endure the unendurable” for a whole six hours — probably one of his longest workdays in office, or perhaps ever — and managed to get through without throwing a panic attack.
The committee assembled a gang of four, if you will, consisting of:
• Our hero, Brandon Johnson
• Boston Mayor Michelle Wu — who spent $160,000 prepping for the event
• Denver Mayor Mike Johnston — he is the tough guy who said he was going to stand at the border of the city and take on ICE like some kind of general (apparently, he scaled back his resistance)
• Embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams — an odd choice for the Republican-dominated committee, since Adams played the role of piñata for the Democrats, given that he has been the beneficiary of what some say is a somewhat sullied deal with the Trump administration to drop Justice Department charges against him as a quid pro quo for immigration cooperation — though he denies it
All four cities have various sanctuary laws similar to Chicago’s that refuse local cooperation with federal immigration law enforcement.
The lies begin
The lies began as soon as he opened his mouth, as is the rule. After all, in fairness, he’s not always lying — just when his big mouth is open. (The man has to occasionally stop to take a breath.)
He “argued it makes the city safer by allowing undocumented people to call and work with law enforcement without fear of deportation,” according to Block Club.
It’s kind of hard to see how local people are safer if the Chicago Police Department (CPD) takes “an alleged” perpetrator down to 26th and Cal to be caught and released with an ankle bracelet instead of shipped to Guantanamo Bay. But that’s BJ logic.
Johnson went on to brag about the famously close cooperation:
“Let me be clear: Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance and our other laws and policies do not lead to more crime, they do not prevent cooperation with federal law enforcement on criminal matters, and we do not harbor criminals. We arrest them, often, because of laws that allow residents to feel safe helping the police.”
That’s the kind of cooperation that gives CPD a 22 percent murder clearance rate.
GOP pushback
Block Club reported that “Comer opened Wednesday’s hearing with scathing comments about sanctuary cities and illegal immigration, blaming former President Joe Biden’s administration for creating the ‘worst border crisis in American history’ while also stating, without specific evidence, that sanctuary policies lead to more violent crime in cities that adopt them.”
Well, here’s some evidence: As of July 21, 2024, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported that 662,566 noncitizens under ICE supervision had criminal convictions or pending charges. Notably, 13,099 had been convicted of homicide and 15,811 had been convicted of sexual assault.
Now, in our book, this is quite a few criminals. We'd rather see them back where they came from or safely ensconced at Guantanamo Bay rather than running around Chicago with, at best, ankle bracelets.
We’ve also seen, with our very own eyes, some of the street fights that have broken out on Van Buren Street outside the immigrant hotels. We’ve seen the footage from the border of gangbangers with face tattoos pouring across with absolutely no impediment whatsoever.
What is the motivation for this insane policy? That remains unclear. However, as usual, I think the prime suspects may well be notorious SDG and her accomplice BJ. She needs more students in the seats of our failing schools, and he needs more residents to keep our congressional districts filled.
The punchline
The hearing concluded — as far as Johnson was concerned, at least — with a classic BJ maneuver.
Congressman Ray LaHood criticized Johnson over high crime rates and low approval ratings, and BJ turned around and asked him for more money to fix the problem.
This is like a Saturday Night Live skit — back when it was funny — lampooning Mayor BJ’s modus operandi. After all, the first big report he wrote for the city was called “First We Get the Money.”
“We could use your help to help us continue to invest in these programs that continue to drive violence down in the city of Chicago,” Johnson told LaHood. “I’m willing to work with you, and I’m glad I had a chance to finally meet you for the first time.”
You can just imagine the high-fives in the cloakroom or the locker room — or wherever these folks went after they were done — talking about how Brandon asked for more money after being told he should work on his six percent approval rating.
If there’s such a thing as the Democrats’ Big City Mayor Hall of Fame, that has got to be in a new place of honor.
And frankly, BJ may have just earned his place in the Hall of Fame.
However, he probably didn’t do himself any good with the voters of Chicago — 94 percent of whom would rather he stay in D.C.
Come to think of it, maybe they need a new mayor. Perhaps we could arrange a trade.
