Story by Melanie Johnson/KMOV
“We are eager to get to work and eager to make sure that people who come here for a myriad of reasons, especially if they are fleeing a dangerous situation that they are welcomed in St. Louis,” said St. Louis City Mayor Tishaura Jones.
This comes as St. Charles County introduced a resolution to stop migrants from moving to the St. Louis region. It was tabled on Monday.
“The crime rate is the highest in the country, and they want to bring more people in? People who are not familiar with our culture and our laws? Does that sound like a good idea? I don’t think it is,” said St. Charles County Council Member Joe Brazil.
The Latino migrants would come from Chicago through a federal program for legal immigrants.
“They may not have room in St. Charles,” Mayor Jones said. “They definitely have room in St. Louis. If they don’t want to welcome them there, they can come here.”
The Hispanic Leaders Group of St. Louis tells First Alert 4 that the resolution is racist, and they plan to attend every board meeting until it is removed.
“I come to St. Louis, and I am put in a class of illegals that is not right,” said Antonio Maldonado of the Hispanic Leaders Group. “Afghanistan is going to make St. Louis their home. Ukrainians are making St. Louis their home. They didn’t get any pushback. Why us?”
Hugo Barrera owns a Spanish clothing store on Cherokee Street. He moved to America from Mexico 20 years ago.
“There’s no jobs in our country,” he said. “America is the best.”
St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann said he doesn’t agree with the anti-migrant resolution. Ehlmann added he was not consulted by the council about it and said the plan includes misinformation.\
