CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Mayor Brandon Johnson and dozens of other local officials again called on President Joe Biden to give work authorization to newly arrived migrants and undocumented immigrants.
Johnson on Thursday announced that some 300 cities and counties were joining in Chicago’s plea to Biden to grant work authorization permits for both communities.
“The Here to Work campaign is how we can take this opportunity and forge a brighter, stronger future for everyone,” he said. “Here to Work offers an opportunity for both undocumented communities and the new arrivals.”
The mayor called the crisis facing cities like Chicago an international one that “requires a federal response.”
“We need the president to extend the same economic opportunities to our long-term undocumented brothers and sisters to further benefit our communities, to empower immigrants so that they can build a better life here,” said Johnson.
The gathering took place at the South Side headquarters of the Chicago Urban League, whose president is former Gary, Ind., Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson.
“We are in solidarity with our long-term migrants, who have been here, who have contributed to this community, who have contributed to our country,” she said.
She reminded the gathering that the Urban League in Chicago was founded after the Black migration from the South.
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