Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Mayor Brandon Johnson and other Democratic leaders on Wednesday renewed their call for President Joe Biden to remedy one crisis — the labor shortage in the hospitality and other industries — by tapping potential from another: noncitizens, including the thousands of undocumented asylum-seekers arriving in Chicago by the busload almost daily from Texas.
Alongside business leaders from several sectors, including the restaurant and construction industries, Pritzker, Johnson and a handful of members of the Illinois congressional delegation — all Democrats — held a news conference urging Biden to streamline the process for new arrivals to obtain work permits.
