IL councilman's viral proposal of migrant housing 'sign-up' list challenges Dem residents to walk the talk

A Chicago-area lawmaker who went viral for his proposal to have a "sign-up" list for those willing to house migrant families is challenging residents who voted Democrat to live by their purported values. 

Josh McBroom, a city council member in the wealthy Illinois suburb of Naperville, made headlines during a Jan. 16 council meeting discussion about what his city should do if a wave of illegal immigrants arrive in their neighborhood like they have in other neighboring towns.

"In light of the fact, I’m not going to support using other people’s money to house or aid – I do know that there’s a lot of people that do care, and I think we live in a compassionate community, so before we go down the road of, you know, following suit on some of these other cities are taking action on, my idea would be – let’s find out, let’s find out who’s willing to help," McBroom said during the meeting.

"You know, we do hear from constituents on both sides of this, what are we going to do to preemptively stop this? And then we hear from people that tell us we should do more. So we do have a very affluent community, a lot of big homes, and what I’d like to do is direct staff to create a sign-up sheet so for individuals that would be willing to house migrant families," he continued. "And if there’s people that would do that, God bless them. So if we could raise awareness in that way, I think we need to find out. I think we need to find out who would be willing to house migrant families. That would be my new business. I would be looking for support from the diocese. Any questions, discussion, happy to have that." 

On Tuesday, video of McBroom's comments blew up on social media.

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Naperville city councilman Josh McBroom went viral with his proposal of a "sign-up sheet" to allow wealthy, sympathetic residents to welcome migrant families into their homes. (City of Naperville, IL)

In an interview with Fox News Digital, McBroom said he felt compelled to bring up the subject he felt was being avoided by his city council colleagues.

"I took it on myself, I'm like, we're gonna address this problem right here. And here's a potential solution," McBroom said. "I mean, we've got a major crisis and Chicago is 30 miles away from us and the mayor of Chicago is begging the suburbs to help out, and we're not gonna expend any taxpayer dollars for this issue." 

The solution, as he explained, was aimed at residents whose votes led to the "open border policy" during the Biden years. 

"If you want to live your virtues, and you support this policy, and you live in a nice, comfortable home in this town, then maybe, maybe open it up," McBroom said. 

"People have signs in their yards that advertise that they support this policy," he added, likely referring to the popular "We Believe" political yard signs that list progressive values like "no human being is illegal."

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While there was some support among the council to look into his proposal, McBroom predicted it would likely go nowhere due to the national coverage Naperville has received in recent days. 

Naperville, a large, affluent suburb located roughly 30 miles west of Chicago, has a median household income of $144,000, according to data from the Census Bureau, double the average Chicago household. While DuPage County had once been historically red territory, it has voted blue in recent election cycles (President Biden won by an 18-point margin in 2020).

"They're voting for people that have supported this open border policy… am I being provocative with my proposal? A little bit, but I'm being genuine, too," McBroom said. "Over half of the town voted for this policy. Are you gonna help out? Because we're not going to spend tax dollars on it."

The popular suburban yard sign that began emerging in 2020 touts progressive values including "no human being is illegal."  (Lindsey Nicholson/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

McBroom, who is politically conservative, said many conservatives reacting to his comments actually misunderstood what he said, accusing "clickbait" headlines of insinuating that he personally was advocating for migrant families to come to his city, which has led to threats. 

"This completely blew past them," McBroom said amusingly. "This is a sign-up sheet for people that have supported open border policy. That's what this was and they didn't see it." 

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McBroom knocked Chicago's status as a sanctuary city, calling it an advertisement for illegal migrants, and slammed Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker's plan to offer millions in grants to municipalities who provide them shelter, something McBroom vows to reject. But, ultimately, the crisis has to be addressed at a federal level. 

"I don't think that the open border policy is in any way humane at all… It's okay to be sympathetic. I mean, these people were misled. And we're seeing little kids at the bus stations without coats on. And I didn't vote for this. I didn't support it. A lot of us said, ‘Hey, this is going to end in a disaster.’"

Migrants stand in line to receive food from the nonprofit Chi-Care Thursday, Jan. 11. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Naperville has already seen the ripple effects of Chicago's rise in crime reaching the suburbs. McBroom worries the same will happen with the migrant crisis, as he estimated that at least six migrants have been dropped off in his city in recent weeks before being sent to Chicago. 

McBroom said Naperville's current policy is that it will provide "safe passage" for any arriving migrants to Chicago where they can receive aid, but he expressed concern about how long his city can keep sending off migrants since Chicago is "busting at the seams."

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"We don't have the public resources. We're not going to be able to house 50, 100 families. We're not going to pay for them to stay in hotels," McBroom said. "I don't think that it's in my purview, at least as a city councilman. My job is to protect the city budget and the taxpayers. And it's just not in my purview to say, 'hey, we're going to use your taxpayers to house people that are non-Naperville residents, or non-U.S. citizens, for that matter.'"

"[Democrats] are doing everything they can to not address the actual problem. And it's a problem now and it's just like, ‘hey, you guys tarred us this problem. Do not ask us to fix it for you,’" he added.