Joliet residents leading rally against grant for asylum-seekers

Some residents in Joliet are rallying to oppose the proposed $8.6 million state grant for asylum-seekers that was applied for by the Joliet Township.

John Sheridan, Trista Graves Brown and other residents decided to hold a news conference Tuesday to publicly bolster their opposition to the grant and criticize Joliet Township Supervisor Angel Contreras.

Sheridan rejected the idea that his and other residents’ disapproval of the grant was based on race. Sheridan claimed “certain people” on the Joliet Township board are trying to make it about race.

“It’s about dollars and cents. This is strictly about resources and dollars. This is not about race,” Sheridan said.

Brown also said the issue was not about race. She said that her issue was with the lack of transparency and inclusiveness from the township about the grant.

“To me, my outrage is that you have to involve the community,” Brown said.

On Sept. 29, Gov. JB Pritzker’s office announced the $8.6 million state grant for the township to provide services for asylum-seekers. The grant has sparked controversy among many residents in the city.

While Joliet city officials acknowledged their staff was aware about the grant before Sept. 29, they have said the township’s grant application was done without their knowledge and approval. Mayor Terry D’Arcy said his office and the Joliet Fire Department were falsely represented as supporting the grant in the application.

One of the organizations involved with the grant was the Spanish Community Center. Calls to Sylvia Acosta Chavez, the executive director of the center, were not immediately returned on Tuesday.

The grant application detailed plans for three welcome centers and one welcome clinic for about 1,900 asylum seekers in Joliet.

“We can’t do it. We don’t have the resources,” Sheridan said.

Sheridan said the grant application had a “lot of wishful thinking,” and it would give asylum-seekers “more benefits than the homeless on the streets.”

“In the long run, the [$8.6 million] is going to run out and the township and the city is going to have to go into their coffers to keep this thing going,” Sheridan said

Brown said she believes Contreras was trying to help asylum-seekers with the grant but he needed to involve the city and other people in the process.

Officials with the Joliet Park District and Duly Health & Care said they were not aware their buildings were planned for welcome centers for asylum-seekers.

“My bottom line is inclusiveness, transparency,” Brown said.