North Cook News

Rosemont has introduced a $1,000 tax on hotel stays lasting 30 days or more.

The move responds to concerns raised by village officials about the potential conversion of suburban hotels into migrant shelters.

“Rosemont #Illinois is adding a $1,000 tax on hotel stays 30 days and longer to prevent housing migrants and protect its convention business,” attorney Beverly Pekala said on X.

“They’ve 'heard' suburban hotels are being eyed to shelter border crossers.”

Rosemont Mayor Brad Stephens, who is also a GOP state representative for Illinois House District 20, cited reports about developer Mike Reschke's attempts to secure suburban hotels for hosting new arrivals.

"We're just trying to preserve the convention business," Stephens told the Daily Herald.

"Could you imagine that if three of our hotels committed 100 rooms for five years, what does that do to the convention business? ... Then the convention organizers are gonna say, 'Well, wait a minute. How come you don't have hotel rooms? You boast that you have 6,000 hotel rooms -- you don't have enough for our group.'"

The new tax, approved by the village board, is designed to preserve the convention business, with exemptions for businesses booking at least two blocks of rooms for their employees for 60 days or more.

The tax, collected by hotel operators, is prorated and does not apply to stays for specific exemptions, such as Athletes Unlimited women's softball league and the Chicago Wolves.

Stephens noted he is not aware of any migrants currently staying in Rosemont's 20 hotels.

A surge of over 17,000 illegal immigrants have landed in Chicago since August 2022 resulting in the City of Chicago and state seeking to move the newcomers to suburban housing.

As part of the push to move illegal imigrants to the suburbs Gov. J.B. Pritker has sought to award over $40 million in grants to communities who will accept border crossers.

"Illinois is a welcoming state, and we have stepped up to aid asylum seekers who have undertaken a dangerous and trying journey to try and build a better life for themselves and their families,” Pritzker said in an announcement regarding the funding.  

However, recent reporting has found the lack of controls at the border have been so pronounced that illegal immigrants armed with guns have crossed over as well as those on the “Terror Watch List” with known ties to terrorist organizations, resulting in safety concerns.

“Our southern border is a matter of deep national concern and insecurity,” a group of Republican lawmakers said in the letter to President Joe Biden. “With rising violence and economic crises around the world pushing many people towards our borders, the record levels of illegal crossings and the spike in Border Patrol apprehensions of individuals matching the U.S. terror watchlist are alarming.”

A "tenfold increase" in the count of individuals on the U.S. terror watchlist attempting to cross the border has been noted in 2023 compared to the figures from fiscal year 2021.

That, coupled with the recent unrest in the Middle East and domestically, has led experts to concede a terror event unfolding in the United States has become much more likely.