Since the first bus arrived from Texas in the fall, nearly 4,000 asylum-seekers have turned up in Chicago from Texas and another 1,400 from elsewhere. The city has set up 11 shelters to house, clothe and feed migrants and provide other services, costing the city an estimated $7 million in December alone, Lightfoot wrote in a letter to lawmakers, requesting $54 million in emergency funding. Reaction to Lightfoot’s request from Democratic leaders in Springfield was mostly tepid.