By: Mark Glennon*
You needn’t look much beyond the four corners of Gov. JB Pritzker’s latest emergency disaster proclamation to see what’s wrong with Illinois’ response to illegal immigration. Pritzker issued his eighteenth such monthly proclamation on January 5.
The proclamation itself recites one central reason for the disaster – the state’s own doing. “Illinois is a welcoming state,” it proudly says.
Indeed it is, and the proclamation is specific, listing some of the assistance the state offers: emergency shelter and housing; food; health screenings, medical assessments and treatment; case management services including legal services and job readiness support; benefits for victims of trafficking, torture, and other serious crimes; enrollment in public schools; and longer-term housing and housing assistance.
Not mentioned is that Illinois has never put any serious pressure on the Biden Administration to enforce the border, lack of which is the primary cause of the crisis.
The proclamation, which also contains an order, authorizes Pritzker alone to do pretty much all he wants for immigrants:
- It authorizes Pritzker to “transfer the direction, personnel, or functions of State departments and agencies” as necessary to implement emergency measures.
- It suspends ordinary purchasing rules — the Illinois Procurement Code and the Illinois Governmental Joint Purchasing Act – insofar as they would get in the way.
- For grant-making, it suspends the Grant Accountability, Transparency Act and the Illinois Administrative Code, which require the state to conduct merit-based applications and review, insofar as they would get in the way.
- It covers the entire state, proclaiming all counties as disaster areas.
- Most importantly, it keeps active the State Emergency Operations Plan. That plan consists of hundreds of pages allowing for displacement of seemingly all normal state operation – everything from public safety, communications, transportation, housing and healthcare to household pets.
In short, it’s a massive transfer of legislative power to one person – the executive – Pritzker.
Blame the ruling majority of the General Assembly for that abrogation of responsibility. It could amend and limit Pritzker’s emergency powers whenever it wants, but it won’t. State Sen. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) put it this way: “If nobody’s checking him, or he’s spending unbridled in this, so far his personality says to me he will file another [emergency declaration] and when he does it will be business as usual…. If he continues to be allowed to because the Democrat leadership in the Senate continues to allow him to do that, then why would he stop?”
How much of that authority will be exercised by Pritzker is unknown because the end of this catastrophe is unknown. Some 3.2 million illegal entrants were encountered nationally last year, a record, plus hundreds of thousands of “gotaways” – illegal immigrants who were never encountered by immigration officials. And the pace has been growing.
We know, however, that Pritzker initially used emergency powers to activate about 75 National Guardsmen when the emergency was first declared in September 2022. Money has also been spent on emergency spending. In November, he authorized an additional $160 million of migrant assistance, taken from the budget for the Illinois Department of Public Health.
We’ve seen this before. For over three years, Pritzker executed consecutive, monthly emergency proclamations to address Covid. His Covid policies were riddled with mistakes that were obvious as they were being made, which we catalogued here.
Compassion and help are appropriate for those arriving here. They were induced to come by our own state and federal government. But that compassion must be restrained by the reality that an open border combined with government assistance is suicidal. The border must be enforced and most of those arriving illegally should ultimately have to leave.
Pritzker has said that the border situation is “untenable.” Yes, it is, and it’s thanks solely to him and his allies. His proclamation, and the state’s entire response to illegal immigration, is self-destructive, autocratic and hypocritical.
*Mark Glennon is founder of Wirepoints.
A mess of uncertainty and litigation is sure to follow.
With $162 billion more from taxpayers, couldn’t you deliver a few bond upgrades, too
Audio and summary
Pritzker sucks
What’s wrong is fact that Pritzker Family is probably greenlighting Biden administration directives on most matters, because Pritzker Family cabal-control embroils many former Obama administration members, now serving in senior roles in Biden administration. Why do you think Penny was named to be “Ukraine Reconstruction Czar”? JB could talk to his sis Penny, ask her to motivate Blinken and team to change “Open Borders” policy, noting significant problems in Blue-State Illinois, all accomplishable in an afternoon. Nope, “Open Borders” policy is part of plan to compel Biden to ultimately not run in 2024 election. Obama and his minions wanted Kamala… Read more »
Interesting theory that would keep the current cabal in power. But I’ve been hearing that Biden will resign for nearly four years now, but Biden is still there. I still believe that they’re going to Weekend at Bernie’s Joe Biden through the election, and after, until they can’t anymore, and Kamala will try to take over while VP. There will be some sort of behind the scenes power struggle over whether Kamala will actually take over depending on whether who is speaker of the house.
He has power to throw money around, but doesn’t have brains to solve problems. It’s just precious how politicians, lawyers and the left think throwing money at a problem somehow solves the problem. Not much different than how Washington thinks throwing money into Ukraine is somehow going to win a war. Smart people solve problems, not big checks with amorphous platitudes attached. The devil is in the details but the recipients of these funds are imbeciles, proving Pritzker is an even bigger imbecile. Equally precious is when the likes of a Pritzker thinks all he has to do is call… Read more »
Considering much of Mr. Pritzker’s money is “elsewhere”, both in real estate (Florida and Wisconsin most notably) and in business investment, what happens here doesn’t much affect him or his fortunes. By his own admission, he has “…about 265 companies, I think….” all off-shore (you know that means no taxes, right?). Would also justify the home on Lyford Cay in the Bahamas.
Exactly! He’s making money here by liberally promoting healthcare, of course he’s got his hands in it, and probably investing the profits in actual growth.
https://abc7chicago.com/jb-pritzker-governor-illinois-medicaid/11599762/
“Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand. They think, deep in their hearts, that they are better than we are because we had to discover the compensations and refuges of life for ourselves. Even when they enter deep into our world or sink below us, they still think that they are better than… Read more »
Nothing Gov. “Two Scoops “ loves more than power to push senseless mandates and laws upon the “ deplorables “. Unfortunately for him, as time wears on people are seeing through his megalomania and brushing him off like the pesky gnat he has morphed into.
Pritzker is a Democrat Governor Illinois elected. The General Assembly is full of Dems we elected. The President of the United States is a Democrat the country elected. These Dems mandate immigration laws that are untenable for all of us. Media hasn’t asked, so Dem governors never answered, “Why are all these illegals here and where are they supposed to go or not go and why or why not?” We’re in an expensive, dangerous mess. It’s suicidal to vote for another Democrat politician for any office.
What a clown show in the comment section today! We need to fight back and team up! Your state will be declared a disaster next if you walk away from this or look the other way. Also, if you’re from out of state, talk to your legislators and political groups about what you can do to stop this. There is strength in numbers!
It’s puzzling why somebody who claims to be an expert in effective communications constantly denigrates others to “motivate” them. And no, I’m not talking about Pritzker.
Simple! These trolls are not my intended audience. You’re not going to motivate some guy calling J.B. “King Pritzker” and claiming it’s his birthright to issue executive orders. debtsor is alluding to nobility and some right to terrorize peasants, and Concerned is suggesting we declare him emperor. Good luck with that. There’s an old and famous sociological theorem that’s proven itself over and over: If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences. A more sinister version states: If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth. What are the odds of a substantial portion of commenters pushing the same… Read more »
Nancy Pelosi once said that in America, ballots are the keys to the kingdom; and unfortunately we Republicans are about 800,000 to a 1,000,000 short every election, and that’s before accounting for additional Democrat fraud.
Just my opinion here Dave, but you are pissing into the wind like everybody else. I’ll be the first to sing your praises if you actually accomplish something. Since trolls like me aren’t your target audience, just move on and get about the serious business of saving the state. We all look forward to your victory!
He should spread his cheer at Capital Fax. He can convert them!
Why are you here? It appears you’re trying to fix the game! Attempting to make a difference on this subject while spewing out the quote below is going to work as well as wearing a Budweiser t-shirt to a DUI hearing.
If this isn’t malicious trolling, I don’t know what is.
I’m like the prophet Jeremiah, who for 50 years forthtold of God’s wrath. No one believed him and he was considered a crazy person, until one day, it all came true. Now while I’m no biblical figure, I do have unique insight because I am able to foretelling of what the Demorcrats and their ilk will do to Illinois, and forewarning everyone of what is to come.
You still don’t get it Dave. Our states are competitors. It benefits us in red states when Illinois fails. Our homes appreciate faster as the moderates and conservatives flee Illinois for our states. Our tax base increases, allowing us to build new schools and roads. Eventually, our states become more powerful politically as we gain electoral votes. The success of the United States is not dependent on a healthy Illinois. Just because some of us don’t live in Illinois, it seems unfair to label us trolls. We have an interest in what happens in Illinois. It just happens to be… Read more »
What state are you a representative for, or are you a rep for all of the red states??? It’s kind of hard to promote a state’s interests when nobody knows what state your’re from!!!! How does this program work and how are you compensated? If not a state rep, what’s the point of posting here? Keep trying!
If JB has all this unfettered power through continuous proclamations why are we paying any money for the farce of a legislature. Declare him emperor, disband the legislature and save the money from salaries e penses and benefits. Bubba claims to know how to fix everything…let’s see him do it.
With our tax money.
Spot on and say let’s donthe same with the US Army. We’re being invaded and they don’t even fire one bullet.
Illinois: The Governor Knows Best
Mark, this statement is in error:
No, it’s not appropriate. They tyrants in Illinois government enticed them here. It is not appropriate for We, The People to pay for “compassion and help”. The only think we should be stuck paying for is deporting their butts back to the dump country they came from.
King Pritzker loves to issue executive orders. He believes it is his birthright to do so, and it’s just so much dang fun. This will show those people who pushed him around who the boss is! He’s drunk with power, and God help us all if he ever gets into the Oval Office. He would set about destroying the US Constitution on day 1.
In any other era back on the continent, Pritzker’s family wealth would have purchased them some nobility, and JB would be an Earl or a Viscount of a substantially sized estate encompassing many wealthy counties and holdings. He’d get a piece of the family pie, so to speak. If he were back in the Roman Empire or antiquity, his family would have a de facto hereditary interest in some remote province, or a satrap of a Roman client state. And back then, there was little constraints on the leader’s behavior, and as long as revenues flowed upwards to the Big… Read more »
It’s much worse than that, actually. He’s an orphan. His absent workaholic father, who traveled frequently for business, was never around, and father died of a heart attack at age 40 playing tennis in Hawaii when JB was only 7 years old. JB’s mother was wealthy socialite widow/divorcee heavily involved in the philanthropic social scenes. Who apparently did little to raise her own children, and especially did little to raise JB. JB likely was raised by nannies, and others, many of whom probably treated him poorly. Several years after his father died, his mother shipped him off to high school… Read more »
That would explain Penny and Tom’s behavior as well. But what of cousin Matthew, recently accused of rape? Maybe bad behavior is a, as Hank Jr. explained, “ family tradition “?
Just like Ted Kennedy,etc.
So many children of very wealthy white families grow up thinking their mother’s name was ‘Mammy’
I wonder how his media team will try and spin this wholesome all-American upbringing in the 2024 Prtizker for President Campaign. No doubt they have focus-grouped various flavors of a cover story for the past half-dozen years and have settled on the least bad version. Of course, even needing such a tale assumes that the national Pravda media would even bother to cover anything vaguely negative about any Democrat candidate.
Plus, his mother was an alcoholic. JB mentioned in a fairly recent interview that he and his siblings on more than one occasion came home from school or from visiting friends to find her passed out drunk; they also had to carefully monitor her at night to make sure she didn’t pass out drunk while smoking in bed and burn their house down. Don’t know whether they ever took advantage of counseling or support groups (Al-Anon/Alateen) to deal with it.
I assumed she was likely an alcoholic, thank you for confirming it.
He’ll probably pour gravy on the Constitution and try to eat it.
WOW!!, everyone should read JBs Emergency Disaster Proclamation. I never bothered to read. What a total Cluster-F#ck!!! Where to begin?: What is or who is a “asylum-seeker” is not defined? Is asylum-seeker just migrants bussed recently by evil Abbott from Texas? and not the countless 100s of thousands that have been here for decades?, etc JB’s issuing disaster proclamation for entire state but the asylum-seeker (migrant) mess is almost entirely a Chicago issue? There is no State or Chicago legal framework for what services are to be provided to asylum-seekers (migrants)? But JBs emergency disaster proclamation provides a giant open… Read more »
In another state haranguing them about trans rights.
Curious to know why you refer to Governor Abbott as “evil”. In just December alone there were over 300,000 invaders coming into his state and Arizona (interestingly, no one ever even brings up the Arizona governor – a Democrat…..hmmm). What exactly would you suggest Gov. Abbott do? Leave 300,000 people sitting on the river bank? Are you going down there with a basket of sandwiches and some extra T.P.????
that was some bad sarcasm. I think what Abbott’s doing is politically brilliant
I love the Illinois gov, mostly because I don’t live in Illinois. Florida, Texas, Carolinas, and Tennessee, get ready for a new wave of people leaving Illinois when the interest rates get lower again. This Pritzker guy is great for both illegal immigration into Illinois and legal immigration out.
I’m out as soon as possible. Illinois is a dump.