THE ILLINOIZE: Thursday Free for All...Our last (scheduled) newsletter for the year!...Asylum Airways...Burke jury deliberating...Illinois population loss
December 21, 2023
Good morning, Illinois.
It’s been a heck of a year. It’s been fun, it’s been a grind at times, and it’s been a real challenge at times. But, we’ve gotten through it.
Our plan is that this will be our final newsletter of the year (I think it’s #301, if my memory serves me correctly). Obviously, if anything pops up, we’ll be on it and letting you know what’s going on.
We’re officially inside three months from the March 19 primary, so buckle up, 2024 is going to be a wild ride.
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Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year.
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Let’s get to it.
YOUR THURSDAY FREE FOR ALL
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Texas sends migrants by private plane to Chicago (Chicago Sun-Times)
Chicago officials say that for the first time the Texas Division of Emergency Management has sent a private chartered plane carrying asylum-seekers to O’Hare Airport.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office confirmed the state is responsible for the flight that departed from El Paso, Texas, and said more than 120 passengers were on board. A spokesman for Abbott said the state is “expanding our operation” to include sending migrants by plane to Chicago, in addition to the hundreds of buses they’ve already used to transport migrants to the city since last year.
“Because Mayor Johnson is failing to live up to his city’s ‘Welcoming City’ ordinance by targeting migrant buses from Texas, we are expanding our operation to include flights to Chicago,” Abbott press secretary Andrew Mahaleris said in a statement.
Chicago police received a call about 7:15 p.m. Tuesday about the flight’s arrival, and two people who flew with the plane reportedly fled in an Uber before police arrived, according to a city statement. The Office of Emergency Management and the Chicago Police Department referred questions to the mayor’s office.
Abbott’s office declined to answer how the flight was paid for and whether state funds were used and said migrants signed consent waivers “available in multiple languages upon boarding.” The news of the plane’s arrival was first reported by WTTW.
The move is Texas’ latest escalation in its efforts to transport thousands of asylum-seekers from cities along the U.S.-Mexico border to sanctuary cities led by Democrats, like Chicago. Since August of last year, more than 600 buses have arrived in Chicago from Texas cities, including Brownsville, Del Rio, El Paso, Laredo and McAllen.
More than 26,000 people have arrived on buses from Texas, with another 4,252 people arriving via plane since June, according to city data.
Abbott’s office indicated it will not be stopping its practices of sending migrants to Chicago any time soon.
“Until President Biden steps up and does his job to secure the border, Texas will continue taking historic action to help our local partners respond to this Biden-made crisis,” Mahaleris said in Wednesday’s statement.
Related: Authorities investigate death of 5-year-old migrant boy as pastor says parents remain devastated (Chicago Tribune)
Calls for more medical resources follow 5-year-old Pilsen shelter resident’s death (Chicago Sun-Times)
Editorial: City’s migrant shelter program needs overhaul after 5-year-old’s death (Chicago Sun-Times)
Jury exits after second full day of deliberations in corruption trial of former Ald. Ed Burke (Chicago Tribune)
Jurors in the racketeering trial of ex-Ald. Edward Burke were sent home late Wednesday after deliberating for a second full day without reaching a verdict.
They are expected to resume their discussions Thursday. In total, the jury has so far deliberated for about 18 hours over three days. The panel was silent all through Wednesday, sending no notes or questions to U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall.
Burke, who was a force to be reckoned with during his five-plus decades as an alderman, is accused of abusing his City Hall clout to get business for his private law firm.
On Tuesday, the jury sent three notes. One asked only for additional copies of the indictment. The next asked for clarification about a count charging co-defendant Charles Cui with using interstate commerce to facilitate an unlawful activity.
Just before 3 p.m. Tuesday, jurors sent out a third note, asking whether Amtrak employees are considered public officers. After a brief discussion, Kendall agreed to tell them that the answer is no.
Amtrak came into play during evidence about the $600 million renovation of the Old Post Office. Since the project sits over train tracks that run to and from Union Station, the developers had to deal with Amtrak extensively and ran into significant bureaucratic hurdles.
Deliberations are expected to last for days. The charges against Burke and his co-defendants are substantial and complicated; it took Kendall nearly four hours on Monday to read the jury instructions alone.
With Christmas week looming, Kendall told the panel last week they should not feel rushed in their discussions, particularly after a six-week trial, so if there is no verdict by Friday, they would not come back until after New Year’s.
“I don’t want you to think I’m going to be Scrooge if you want to take a long time,” the judge said. “I’m not going to make you sit Christmas week. I don’t want anybody to be stressed that you can’t be with your families.”
Related: Jurors begin deliberating historic racketeering case against Ed Burke (Chicago Sun-Times)
Defense: 'You should send Ed Burke home for his birthday' (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Illinois’ population declined by nearly 33,000, new 2023 census figures show, even as the nation as a whole grew (Chicago Tribune)
While the U.S. population returned to a pre-pandemic growth trajectory this year, Illinois was one of eight states to see its numbers decline, a new 2023 census report showed.
Illinois lost 32,826 people between July 2022 and July 2023, trailing only New York and California in total population decline. But Illinois maintained its ranking as the sixth most populous state at 12,549,689, according to the annual census update released Tuesday.
The Vintage 2023 population estimates show broader trends reflecting pre-pandemic norms, with fewer deaths and an increase in migration spurring growth. The net result was a gain of more than 1.6 million people in the past year, a 0.5% increase that brought the total U.S. population to 334,914,895.
The growth rate is still historically low, but has been ticking up annually since the onset of the pandemic in 2020.
Illinois bucked regional growth trends this year, with all neighboring states showing population increases, led by Indiana, which added nearly 30,000 people. On the bright side, Illinois’ rate of decline has slowed after losing nearly 108,000 people last year, according to census data.
After 10 straight years of population declines in Illinois, a return to pre-pandemic norms may not be a cause for much celebration, according to Bryce Hill, director of fiscal and economic research at the Illinois Policy Institute, a conservative Chicago-based think tank.
“Obviously, a slowdown compared to the past couple years in population loss and out-migration is truly welcome and something that the state desperately needs,” Hill said. “Our concern is that nothing’s fundamentally changed in Illinois, and so the return to pre-pandemic trends is still net negative for the state.”
The Illinois population decline of nearly 33,000 people in 2023 is due in large part to the net domestic migration of 83,839 people who left for other states, offset by net international immigration, which added 40,492 people, according to census data.
While it is not clear if the new census data fully reflects it, more than 26,000 migrants have been bused to Chicago since August 2022 from Texas and other southern border states.
Despite the recent influx of international migrants, Hill said the state needs to focus on domestic migration to reverse the long-term trend of population declines.
“We need to be thinking about how can we retain more Illinoisans and how can we attract people from other states to move here,” Hill said.
TOP STORIES THIS WEEK ON THEILLINOIZE.COM
Schneider: "I Struggle With" Rise in Antisemitism, Ramirez responds to claims of antisemitism
State Revenue Falls in November, Surplus Projected for Current Fiscal Year
POLITICAL POTPOURRI
These personalized license plate requests made the ‘naughty list’ (Daily Herald)
Judge delays sentencing in 'ComEd Four' case (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Public health officials urge caution around respiratory illnesses (Capitol News Illinois)
Bally’s Chicago to go to a 24/7 operation next week (Chicago Tribune)
Hope in a ‘time of darkness’: Suburban students discuss campus antisemitism with Schneider (Daily Herald)
Illinois House District 95 candidate withdraws from race after being short of signatures (State Journal-Register) [note: Coburn actually withdrew from the race last Wednesday]
Chicago plans to borrow over $1 billion as it weans itself off TIFs (Crain’s Chicago Business)
The Thompson Center Is Dead. Long Live the Loop Googleplex. (Chicago Magazine)
DeWitte: Public transit is an essential state government service (Shaw Media)
Vallas: The battle over school choice reveals racism at work — but not in the way most might think (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Opinion: Gutting school choice in Chicago would be terrible for Black, Brown students (Chicago Sun-Times)
Opinion: To remain an economic powerhouse, here's what Chicago must do (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Opinion: Allowing officials to concentrate power invites abuse (Shaw Media)
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