State Watchdog Finds Chicago Migrant Crisis Workers Were Paid to Do Nothing

When thousands of migrants started flooding Chicago from the Southern U.S. border four years ago, a new report shows a company was paid more than $78 million to do virtually nothing.

As the migrants arrived, the city scrambled for shelter space and contractors to handle the humanitarian crisis.

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As those migrants were bussed to the Chicago area, the images were broadcast nationwide, showing more than 51,000 migrants camped on sidewalks, inside police stations and airports, anywhere families could find a corner of Chicago space.

When the city opened official shelters, Kansas company Favorite HealthCare Staffing was hired to provide relief workers.

Now, a new investigation from the Illinois’ Auditor General reports that the state paid more than $78 million to Favorite Healthcare Staffing for employees to sit on standby, not actually doing anything, for nearly a half million hours.

The state watchdog audit determined that Illinois’ Emergency Management Agency paid the mammoth bill without questioning the charges or determining whether they were legit.

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Favorite invoices for a four-week period covered 400 of their relief employees who billed the city for 84 hours of work each, per week. That billing included regular pay rates of $50 to $156 per hour, and up to $234 an hour for overtime.

Shelter housekeepers were paid $17,000 per week, or the equivalent of more than $220,000 per year.

Each security guard was billed at a rate of $312,000 per year, and the report showed one contract nurse was given the equivalent of $836,000 in annual pay.

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