Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants to open the city up to more immigrant children crossing the border illegally, with plans to open up shelters in the city to 1,000 minors by the end of the year.

Mr. Emanuel’s office also plans to launch a “broad-based pro bono campaign,” using the city’s legal resources to council young immigrants.

“The influx of unaccompanied child migrants is a growing humanitarian crisis that we can no longer ignore,” Mr. Emanuel said in a statement, the Chicago Tribune reported Saturday.

“While we have our own challenges at home, we cannot turn our backs on children that are fleeing dangerous conditions,” he said. “We will do or part to ensure that these children are given access to services and treated fairly and humanely,” the Tribune reported.

But citizens in Chicago, one of America’s most violent cities, have claimed that the Obama administration is placing the plight of illegal immigrants above the needs of Chicago’s citizens.

“Mr. President, we’re asking for you. You’re spending billions of dollars in Texas, but we’ve a problem here in Chicago. We will not stand by this here, and keep letting this senseless killing and shooting happen in our community,” a woman on Chicago’s South Side side said during a July 14 protest, the blog Rebel Pundit reported.

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