From peaceful southern Illinois, Chicago can look like a crime-ridden hellhole that’s welcomed far too many asylum seekers and is driving the state off a financial cliff and into a $3.2 billion deficit.

No surprise, then, that Illinois lost 83,839 residents in 2023, its 10th straight year of decline — as people and businesses flee across state lines seeking lower taxes and less red tape.

Now, separatists say rural counties should wave goodbye to Chicago and surrounding Cook County, and forge the state of ‘New Illinois.’

Their mantra is: ‘Leave Illinois without moving.’

American history is littered with examples of states and counties trying to redraw maps — and most often they’re doomed.

But Illinois’ separatists have the wind in their sails after winning nonbinding ballot resolutions in 33 of the state’s 102 counties.

Neighboring Indiana has taken notice, offering to shift its western border and absorb disgruntled parts of Illinois.

G.H. Merritt, chairman of New Illinois State, says she expects Illinois to soon ‘crash and burn’ due to the progressive tax-and-spend policies of Chicago’s political elite.

Residents of southern Illinois want to wave goodbye to Chicago, with its crime, homelessness, and immigration issues   

The 5,000 residents of Staunton are among those who could choose to join’New Illinois State’

‘A lot of businesses have left the state,’ Merritt told DailyMail.com.

‘They leave Chicago because it’s dangerous, and the taxes are too high. Over the course of a few years, we’ve lost a million residents.’

Those leaving often point to Brandon Johnson of Chicago, whose abysmal approval ratings have made him ‘America’s most hated mayor.’

He’s struggled to accommodate the tens of thousands of immigrants and asylum seekers who turned up in Chicago, seeking jobs, homes, and schools after crossing the southern border.

Others slam Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker for running up a $3.2 billion deficit in his 2026 budget and overseeing a staggering $144 billion pension debt, according to Illinois Policy, a think tank.

Critics note that Pritzker only won his 2022 election through victories in the heavily-weighted counties around Chicago.

Illinois is ‘on the verge of bankruptcy,’ warns Merritt.

‘If we can’t make New Illinois happen, you’re going to see a lot more people leave Illinois and go to states where they feel they’ll have a voice.’

It’s not clear that New Illinois would have better finances after jettisoning Cook County.

Chicago is surrounded by several wealthy blue counties — and their taxes subsidize poorer areas down south, says research from the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute.

The separatist movement was launched in 2018, but it’s started making real progress in recent months.

The state’s Democratic Gov JB Pritzker insists that Illinois is and will remain ‘one state’

Voters in Madison County, a metropolitan area and suburb of St. Louis, have approved the symbolic referendum 

Separatists have secured support from voters on ballot initiatives in 33 out of 102 counties

It echoes efforts in Colorado, California and Oregon, where vast swaths of red, rural counties are dominated by a few blue cities.

The divide between urban and rural America has long been a fault line in the world’s biggest economy.

President-elect Donald Trump played up tensions on the campaign trail as he railed against large Democratic-run cities.

Now, animated separatist groups see his second administration as friendly to sparsely-populated red areas that get pushed about by metropolitan liberals.

Late last yearn, Merritt’s group passed the first draft of a new constitution, and counts support in 68 counties.

A sister organization, Illinois Separation Referendum, has secured support from voters on ballot initiatives in 33 counties.

In November, even Madison County, a metropolitan area and suburb of St. Louis, approved the symbolic referendum about splitting from the Chicago area and forming a new state.

Still, it’s a daunting process, requiring the consent of the state legislature and Congress, says the US Constitution.

It’s only happened a handful of times, including the formation of Kentucky, with the consent of Virginia, and Maine, which once belonged to Massachusetts.

The most recent example was West Virginia, which left Virginia during the Civil War — 162 years ago.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has struggled to accommodate the tens of thousands of immigrants and asylum seekers who turned up in Chicago

Separatists say they want to redraw the maps and ‘Leave Illinois Without Moving’ 

Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia have since vaunted the idea of becoming a 51st state.

Meanwhile, Texas, California, and some other states have efforts to split from the US entirely.

In Oregon, a group called Greater Idaho wants to redraw state lines so its eastern conservative rural counties can join Idaho.

Though Illinois’ separatists have support among a dozen lawmakers, they have little succor among the elites in Chicago and Springfield, the state capital.

‘We’re one state,’ Gov Pritzker told reporters before last year’s election.

‘The idea that someplace in Illinois wants to kick out another place in Illinois should not be on the ballot.’

This month, Illinois politics got messier once again, with neighboring Indiana joining the ruckus.

Republicans in Indianapolis introduced a bill to launch a boundary commission to redraw state lines and absorb disgruntled parts of Illinois.

It would ’embrace neighboring counties that want to join low-tax, low-cost Indiana,’ says the bill.

Indiana Republican House Speaker Todd Huston said: ‘Instead of seceding and creating a 51st state, they should just join us.’

Still, even with support in Indiana, that effort would need to win over Springfield and Washington DC — another long-shot.

Pritzker has rejected Indiana’s move as a ‘stunt’ and advised his residents against joining a ‘low-wage state’ with few worker protections and shoddy healthcare.

From peaceful southern Illinois, Chicago can look like a crime-ridden hellhole thanks to shootings investigations like this 

G.H. Merritt says debt-ridden Illinois will ‘crash and burn’ in as little as three years

Still, for Merritt, who lives near Chicago in Lake County, it’s a more a question of how much of Illinois that Indiana would be willing to absorb.

‘If it were to work, I’d say ‘great’,’ she told DailyMail.com.

‘But I wouldn’t want Indiana to grab 33 counties in southeastern Illinois, because then the rest of us would get left behind.’