- Title: Chicago hit with backlash as it shelters homeless migrants
- Date: 1st December 2023
- Summary: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES (NOVEMEBER 26, 2023 (REUTERS) MIGRANTS BUNDLED UP IN WINTER CLOTHING OUTSIDE CHICAGO POLICE STATION AS SNOW FALLS (MUTE) DRONE FOOTAGE OF MIGRANTS AND THEIR TENTS OUTSIDE CHICAGO POLICE STATION AS SNOW FALLS VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS BUNDLED UP IN WINTER CLOTHING OUTSIDE CHICAGO POLICE STATION AS SNOW FALLS (MUTE) DRONE FOOTAGE OF MIGRANTS AND TH
- Embargoed: 15th December 2023 11:02
- Keywords: 12TH WARD ABBOTT ALDERMAN ALDERWOMAN BORDER BRANDON BRIGHTON BRIGHTON PARK BUS BUSES BUSING CHICAGO CHICAGOAN CHICAGOANS COLD CROSSING DEMOCRAT DEMOCRATIC ELECTION EXTREMIST EXTREMISTS GREG HOMELESS ILLEGAL JOHNSON JULIA LATIN LATINA LATINAS LATINO LATINOS LIGHTFOOT LORI MAYOR MEXICAN MIGRANT MIGRANTS MIGRATION PARK RAMIREZ REPUBLICAN RIGHT WING RIGHT-WING SHELTER SHELTERS SUE SUING SUIT TEMP TEMPERATURE TEMPS TENT TEXAS VENEZUELA VENEZUELAN VENEZUELANS WINTER WINTERIZED
- Location: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES
- City: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES
- Country: US
- Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,North America,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001248330112023RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Chicago is grappling with local backlash against moving homeless migrants into a new government-run tent encampment, as temperatures drop and more migrants continue to arrive.
Hundreds of migrants are still sleeping on floors or in tents outside city police stations. Some who remained were huddled this week near tents wearing parkas, knit hats and even ski goggles to cope with the cold weather and falling snow.
At the same time, dozens of protesters have been gathering daily near a construction site where one of two new shelters is being built in the Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood.
The shelters, funded by the state of Illinois and expected to open as soon as mid-December, will house up to 2,200 asylum seekers and cost $65 million to build.
Community members in Brighton Park are suing the city to try to stop construction, saying it violates Chicago zoning laws.
"These people are just getting off the bus and everything's given to them," said one of the demonstrators, longtime resident Ricardo Palacios. "As a taxpayer, I don’t think that’s right."
For several months, thousands of migrants with nowhere to go have slept at Chicago police stations and in O'Hare International Airport, but the city and churches have stepped up efforts to move migrants into shelters.
Around 1,000 asylum seekers remain at police stations, down from 4,000 three weeks ago, according to city figures.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a Democrat who took office in May, has struggled to house arriving migrants, including hundreds bused up each week by the Republican-led border state of Texas to pressure Democratic mayors.
The housing issue has become more urgent in recent weeks as the city's frigid winter season draws closer and snow has started to fall.
On Tuesday, Johnson, who is Black, criticized Texas Governor Greg Abbott's busing effort during a press conference, calling it "right-wing extremism" that was intentionally targeting cities "led by people of color."
"Their whole motivation is to create disruption and chaos," said Johnson, who has also sought more federal funding to deal with the issue.
Since April 2022, Texas has bused more than 66,000 migrants to six Democratic-run cities, four of which have Black mayors.
Abbott's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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