As a lifelong resident of the Chicago land area, I have seen the demographics change and evolve. If you have been paying attention to the news, you know that the Black residents of Chicago are in an uproar because new mayor Brandon Johnson allocated $51 million for undocumented immigrants who were bussed here from Texas.

The residents of Chicago have vociferously complained about money given to individuals who are not even citizens of this country, while local initiatives and needs of the Chicago residents go unmet. Today I read an article that progressive Texas judge Nina Hidalgo is pushing back against critics of a universal basic income (UBI) proposal specifically for undocumented immigrants.

I am strongly in favor of having a secure border and screening the people who we allow to come into this country. Simultaneously I also believe that if we are going to allow immigrants to enter the United States, that we should provide opportunities for them to be self-sufficient. Allowing low skilled workers to come into the country without allowing them a means to make a legal living only creates criminals and a larger burden on our already stressed state and federal prisons.

That said taking taxpayer money and providing a universal basic income to undocumented workers who sneak into the country is a bridge too far. I identify as a conservative Democrat. I cannot fathom how progressive politicians and judges believe making these overtures to people who are not legally here is going to resonate with voters.

Both Republican and Democrat voters want their money spent responsibly. And in all the cases that I have heard argued from the Right about judicial overreach, this is by far the best example with which I agree. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever why taxpayers should be subsidizing a universal basic income for U.S. citizens nor undocumented immigrants.

And in so doing, whether these progressives realize it or not, they are setting up a red wave that is going to subsume the remaining bastions of progressivism throughout the United States at the federal, state, and local levels. I am not saying that Donald Trump is going to win reelection in 2024, but continuing to give taxpayer money to U.S. citizens who refuse to work and to undocumented immigrants is going to galvanize people who sit on the fence ideologically like me. Trump is already using this as a campaign issue suggesting that the United States should repeal the 14th amendment that guarantees birth right citizenship.

Do you believe that taxpayer money should be used to fund a universal basic income for undocumented immigrants?

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