Pritzker, Johnson Call For Biden To Approve Work Permits To Asylum-Seekers

Migrants from Venezuela take shelter in the Chicago Police Department’s 16th District station on Monday, May 1, 2023. Chicago has seen the number of new arrivals grow tenfold in recent days. Shelter space is scarce and migrants awaiting a bed are sleeping on floors in police stations and airports. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Governor Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson are seeking help from the federal governments in dealing with the migrant crisis and labor shortage in Chicago. Pritzker and Johnson were joined by other Democratic leaders yesterday in calling for President Biden to approve work permits for asylum-seekers in Chicago. Currently, migrants can’t apply for work permits until five months after they’ve applied for asylum in the U.S. Officials emphasized that Chicago would be unable to continue supporting a growing migrant population in the city.