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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
ALLOCATION MODIFICATION OF THE DISASTER RESPONSE AND RECOVERY FUND
WHEREAS, in August 2022, the State of Texas started a coordinated effort of funding buses to transport new arrivals to the United States at the southwest border to various cities across the country with a focus on Chicago; and
WHEREAS, the unannounced nature of bus arrivals created an unsafe and chaotic situation leading local government entities to respond to this humanitarian crisis; and
WHEREAS, Cook County and Cook County Health have assisted the City of Chicago since the inception of the new arrivals operation with emergency management support and Cook County Health standing up a new clinic at Belmont Cragin exclusively to care for over 24,000 new arrival patients; and
WHEREAS, there was a drastic increase in buses sent to Chicago with a peak of 15 buses in a single day and over 2,800 individual new arrivals in one week in September 2023; and
WHEREAS, this influx caused overcrowding at Chicago Police Department precinct locations and the need for several additional shelter openings; and
WHEREAS, bus companies began dropping new arrivals in scattered locations across Cook County and surrounding collar counties destabilizing and decentralizing the operation; and
WHEREAS, to protect the public health, safety, and welfare of current and future Cook County residents, Cook County established the Disaster Response and Recovery Fund to address Cook County's needs in response to proclamations of disaster, including proclamations of disaster related to the influx of new arrivals; and
WHEREAS, in FY 2024 the Board of Commissioners voted to fund the Disaster Response and Recovery Fund (DRRF) with $100,000,000.00, of which $70,000,000.00 was allocated for new arrival health care costs, $20,000,000.00 was allocated for municipal or local government costs related to disaster response and recovery, which may include support for new arrivals, and $10,000,000.00 was al...
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