Joliet Leaders Must Stand Against Hate
Joliet leaders must act as violence against immigrants is on the rise and social services struggle with a lack of funding
October 20, 2023, Joliet – For the past year, extremist governors have been transporting thousands of asylum seekers to cities across the country, often falsely promising employment and housing. This is an amoral publicity stunt that uses people as pawns in a callous political game intended to drive wedges between working people and undermine the political will to welcome newcomers to our country of immigrants.
Local authorities have been slow in dealing with this manufactured crisis, in part because they have no control of Federal immigration policy and our region lacks the experience to effectively process a large influx of asylum seekers. Complicating matters further, asylum seekers are not arriving through official channels, as the Governors who send them attempt to maximize the disruption their arrivals may cause.
With little official response, community based organizations and volunteer groups have been asked to step into the gap, oftentimes with no increase in funding or support from local officials. With such groups stretched thin during normal times, the increased burden has left many on the brink of collapse.
Meanwhile the number of asylum seekers being dropped off in Chicago has increased to as many as 1,500 per day while temperatures have begun to drop to dangerous lows. As families seek the safety of jobs that can support them, we can expect that many will head to neighboring cities and towns in search of employment and shelter.
As a major warehousing hub, Joliet and its surrounding townships will be a natural destination for many families, regardless of any official policies. Due to this influx of newcomers, safety-net organizations such as the Spanish Community Center, The Will Grundy Medical Center, and local food pantries are reporting significant financial strain. Without relief, we face the real prospect of key services becoming unavailable to both longtime residents as well as new arrivals.
No policy or resolution passed by the Joliet city council or by the Joliet Township would have the power to close the city off to new arrivals as there is no border to the city of Joliet. Therefore, Joliet leaders have a choice to make; to prepare now for a developing situation with all available resources or to wait until it’s too late to begin to act.
In light of that, Warehouse Workers Action is extremely disappointed by the decision by the city of Joliet as well as Joliet township to turn down nearly $9 million in state funding that would have gone toward shoring up critical safety net providers to the benefit of all residents across the Joliet area. The subsequent proposal by Councilman Clement and supported by Councilman Hug, that Joliet should pass a resolution that it is explicitly not a sanctuary city, is akin to hanging up a sign that reads “immigrants are not welcome here”.
Such a statement only serves to embolden those who have been pushing dangerous and hateful rhetoric in recent weeks, including negatively equating attempts to care for asylum seekers to protests for a ceasefire in the Middle East, demonizing asylum seekers (and suggesting violence may be inevitable), and calling out threats against immigrants from the crowd. This dangerous and hateful rhetoric has already been directly responsible for rising hate crimes against immigrants including the shooting of a young mother in Chicago and the brutal murder of a young Palestinian boy by his landlord in Plainfield as a direct result of dangerous and hateful rhetoric.
We call on all our elected representatives to show leadership and work to bring our communities together through this time of crisis and not seek to exploit fear and bigotry to score political points. To do otherwise would be to condone the rising tide of unrest that has already turned deadly in the Joliet area.
City leaders have a moral imperative to lead by example and show that Joliet can meet the moment with humanity and grace, welcoming newcomers while assuring longtime residents that any new arrivals will only enrich the fabric of our community; just as all the previous waves of arrivals have done.
We also urge city leaders to help assuage the fears of local residents by doing everything in their power to secure all available funding to support frontline organizations so that no one fears that their families will lose out because another family is being cared for.
Warehouse Workers Action believes in the power of solidarity and that, together, working people can secure the resources ALL our families need to live full lives free from fear and want. To that end, we will continue to work with area partners to push back against hateful narratives, to foster a productive dialogue about how our region can meet this moment, and to ensure that any new arrivals understand their rights in the workplace and in the community.
Sincerely,
The Warehouse Workers Action Board
