A survey from the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) rates Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson as the worst mayor among U.S. sanctuary cities. The survey examined funding for migrants, collaboration with federal law enforcement, and adherence to immigration laws. In 2022, Chicago was ranked the third-worst sanctuary city, but under Johnson, issues with illegal immigration have intensified, leading to increased crime and chaos.
“Sanctuary policies attract illegal aliens and cause overcrowding and crime,” said IRLI executive director Dale L. Wilcox. Tom Homan, IRLI senior fellow and former ICE director, added that these policies prevent ICE from ensuring community safety, resulting in unnecessary deaths.
Johnson supports policies favoring illegal immigrants, including voting rights for them, and has allocated millions in taxpayer funds to shelters for migrants, neglecting Chicago’s citizens and exacerbating public resentment. He blames Texas Governor Greg Abbott for sending around 37,000 migrants to Chicago since 2022, yet continues to pursue sanctuary policies and plans to spend hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on migrant care.
Following Johnson, New York’s Eric Adams was ranked second, and Denver’s Michael Johnston third. The rest of the top ten worst sanctuary-city mayors include Kelly Girtz (Athens, GA), Muriel Bowser (Washington, DC), Karen Bass (Los Angeles), Mary-Ann Baldwin (Raleigh, NC), Reed Gusciora (Trenton, NJ), Ron Nirenberg (San Antonio, TX), and Darrell Steinberg (Sacramento, CA), all of whom are Democrats, except Nirenberg, an independent.
