Quote:
Originally Posted by Handro
At a municipal level it's been great, at a human level it's very sad to see seemingly increasing numbers of families with young kids panhandling all over the city. I hope this pace of immigration is met with an increased coordination between city/state/feds to get these potential new Chicago residents housing and jobs.
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The real problem there is work permits/visas, which the feds are dragging their feet on. The immigrants *want* to work and set up their lives, but they can't get employment because of their status. 20+ years ago this was less of a problem, since people would be able to be paid under the table in cash. This is how the huge surge of Mexican immigrants to the city in the 80s-00s got their foot in the door. In today's near cashless economy, informal cash work is much less of an option, thus the panhandling. Unfortunately, I don't see Congress moving on remedying the situation anytime soon, because immigration is so politically polarizing. Very frustrating.