Fifty buses carrying migrants arrived in Chicago over the past week and authorities are preparing for up to 25 buses with about 1,250 people on board to begin arriving daily.
The deluge has caused enormous problems and provoked negative reactions from city residents, who long ago ran out of shelter space and have allowed asylum seekers to sleep at O’Hare Airport and police stations in the whole city.
In a scathing letter to President Biden on Monday, Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker accused the feds of failing to provide adequate aid to the city, a sentiment echoed by many other American mayors as the crisis.
“The humanitarian crisis is overwhelming our ability to provide aid to the refugee population. Unfortunately, the welcome and help that Illinois has provided to these asylum seekers has not been matched by support from the federal government.
“Most critically, the federal government’s lack of intervention and coordination at the border has created an unsustainable situation for Illinois.”
Terminals at both Chicago airports have been turned into makeshift shelters for migrants and tent cities are being built TNS via Getty Images Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D.) criticized the Biden administration’s response to the crisis immigration in a letter on MondayAP
More than 17,000 migrants have already been sent to Chicago from the border since August 2022, but the total is rising with new arrivals, according to Beatriz Ponce de León, Chicago’s deputy mayor for immigrant rights, immigrants and refugees.
About 9,800 migrants currently live in the city’s shelters, while more than 3,000 more are waiting to be placed.
The state has already spent more than $330 million on the crisis, Pritzker noted. Police station lobbies have been filled to the brim with desperate families sleeping on the floor, spilling out onto sidewalks where portable toilets have been set up.
Terminals at O’Hare and Midway airports have been reserved for hundreds of migrants to huddle on blankets, cardboard boxes and carpeted floors as they wait for more permanent housing.
In September, Mayor Brandon Johnson finalized plans to erect a series of winterized tent camps and relocate migrants living there to police stations and airports.
However, the $29.4 million project was met with surprise, as the construction contract was signed with the same security company tasked with busing migrants: GardaWorld Federal Services.
Since last week, fifth new buses full of immigrants have already arrived in Chicago. Those numbers are about to skyrocketREUTERS
“To find out that we are paying the same company responsible for sending them here, to now take care of them, is like the firefighter starting the fire and extinguishing it at the same time,” the Chicago City Council said. Councilman Ray López, according to NBC Chicago.
He also questioned the feasibility of the tents being able to withstand the demands of Chicago’s notoriously brutal winters.
“The fact that we’re spending $29 million on a tent city solution that probably won’t even work in subzero, Chicago-style weather conditions is just amazing to me,” he said.
Plans to build shelters have also met resistance from residents of the planned neighborhoods.
On Tuesday, members of the Galewood neighborhood organized a protest against plans to build a shelter at Amundsen Fieldhouse, arguing it would displace programming for children and teens the community depends on.
About 17,000 immigrants have arrived in Chicago since August 2022. About 1,250 are now expected to arrive dailyAFP via Getty Images
“Do you want to take the little resources we have and put us at the bottom of the barrel? It’s not fair,” one woman said, according to Fox 32.
Elsewhere in the city, residents of the South Shore neighborhood filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent the former South Shore High School from being converted into immigrant housing.
The lawsuit says that converting public spaces, including police station lobbies, into immigrant shelters is not only harmful to local communities, but violates immigrants’ humanitarian rights.
“If you call it a humanitarian effort, they shouldn’t be sleeping on the floor in police stations,” said organizer Brian Mullins.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn