By Illinois Review
As Illinois Democrats boast about their “compassionate” policies for illegal aliens, the tragic
reality is that compassion doesn’t extend to their own citizens – especially to Black mothers and babies on Chicago’s South and West Sides.
While Governor JB Pritzker and Illinois Democrats have poured over $2.5 billion into taxpayer-funded health care for illegal aliens, Chicago remains one of the worst places in America for infant survival. The city’s Black infant mortality rate is three times higher than that of white infants. In some neighborhoods – Englewood, Austin, and Garfield Park – the crisis is as devastating as it was 50 years ago.
Babies are dying before their first birthday, and families are desperate for help.
Instead of directing resources to address this humanitarian disaster at home, Democrats are choosing to fund benefits for those who entered the country illegally. The Illinois Auditor General recently confirmed that state spending on non-citizen health care has exploded – approaching $2.5 billion since 2021, far beyond budget estimates.
Meanwhile, funding for maternal health programs in predominantly Black neighborhoods remains stagnant.
The state’s “Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults” and “Health Benefits for Immigrant Seniors” programs, championed by Pritzker and his Democratic supermajority, were originally projected to cost a few hundred million dollars. They have now ballooned into a financial crisis. Instead of scaling back, Pritzker continues to defend the program as a “moral obligation.”
But what about the moral obligation to citizens?
Every week, Chicago mothers bury their infants. According to public health data, Black babies in Chicago die at a rate nearly double the national average. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and preventable complications are rampant. Yet clinics that once served these communities have closed, nurses are stretched thin, and prenatal care is often out of reach.
The Illinois Department of Public Health admits that programs to reduce infant mortality are “underfunded,” but there is no political will in Springfield to fix it. The political class is too busy competing to see who can virtue-signal hardest on illegal immigration.
Governor JB Pritzker, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin have each emphasized the importance of “equity” and “justice” in their public statements. Yet data from state and city health departments show that significant inequities persist – particularly for mothers and infants on Chicago’s South and West Sides. While Illinois has expanded benefits for undocumented migrants, families in some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods continue to face limited access to prenatal care, overcrowded hospitals, and high infant mortality rates.
Public health experts say the state’s spending choices highlight an ongoing tension between expanding services for illegals and addressing long-standing inequities affecting Illinois residents.
Advocates say investments in prenatal care, neighborhood clinics, and early childhood programs could save lives if given the same urgency and funding that the state’s migrant health initiatives have received.
As lawmakers prepare for the next budget cycle, the debate over how to balance humanitarian priorities with the needs of Illinois residents is likely to intensify. For families mourning the loss of infants to preventable causes, the outcome of that debate could be life or death.
For now, the data tell a clear story: billions spent on health care for illegal migrants, while some of Chicago’s most vulnerable residents – its mothers and infants – continue to fall through the cracks.
