Chicago Mayor's Response to Border Question Raises Eyebrows

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks to guests after taking the oath of office on May 15, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. Johnson was asked by a reporter about whether he would visit the U.S.-Mexico border due to an influx of migrants into his city, drawing a passionate response.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is taking heat from conservatives after invoking his family and a busy schedule when asked if he was going to personally visit the U.S.-Mexico border.

Johnson, who took over as mayor last year, and others including New York City Mayor Eric Adams have criticized the federal government and Biden administration for a lack of resources in combatting a migrant surge that has exceeded 988,900 individuals in the past three months, following a record-setting number of migrant encounters in fiscal year 2023.

Chicago, New York and Denver are Democrat-run cities that have become migrant destinations. Some 80,000 of them have been bussed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott after crossing the southern border, part of a larger ideological battle being waged by the Texas Republican and conservatives from other states who are pushing for stronger security measures.

“I have children who attend schools who have soccer games, y’all,” Johnson said on Monday at a public event when asked if he would visit the border, according to video posted on social media. “You know, you all are asking me as if I’m not a parent in this city. I get it, I’m mayor, but you’re asking me to give you a date.

“Do you understand that you have not had a mayor like me? I get that. I have a wife, I have children, they have schedules. And plus, we still have public safety that we have to address, we still have the unhoused that we have to address, I still have a budget that I have to address.”

He added: “And I’m doing all of that with a Black wife, raising three Black children on the west side of the city of Chicago. I am going to the border as soon as possible.”

Newsweek reached out to Johnson’s office via email for comment.

Johnson’s remarks garnered negative responses from conservatives on platforms like X, formerly Twitter, who inquired as to why Johnson invoked his family and lack of time yet still ran for governor of one of America’s largest cities.

“Didn’t Brandon Johnson campaign to be mayor?” wrote one X user. “He is acting like he was forced into the job lol.”

“Are we supposed to applaud the fact that he’s got a wife and a job?” said another.

One user wrote: “Does he think he’s the only person in America raising a family? Help! I Am Completely in Over My Head at My Job.”

“So wait the far-left Mayor of Chicago Brandon Johnson says he can’t do his job because he’s black?” wrote Fox News host Harris Faulkner. “There are great Americans who do their jobs everyday— no matter what their skin color is. Not any part of what we look like determines OUR WILL. He needs Jesus.”

In January, at least seven lawsuits were filed against the city of Chicago by residents, including three filed by people of color. One was filed by Chicago West Side resident Cata Truss, a 57-year-old mother. Another was filed by former Texas U.S. House of Representatives candidate J. Darnell Jones, a Democrat, DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) strategist and reparations proponent who lives in Chicago’s South Side.

They blamed President Joe Biden for the influx of migrants in their communities, rather than people like Abbott.

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