Chicago struggles to cope with mass influx of migrants sent from Texas – EL PAS USA
Antonio Contreras does not know what has happened in the last year and a half in the city that is now his home. Nor does he know of the dramas that have taken place in the industrial warehouse where he has been sleeping with his family and a thousand other migrants for two months. Sitting at the doors of the largest migrant shelter in Chicago, where he sells drinks and cookies informally to make money, he can only think about his own odyssey, so similar to that of so many Venezuelans but at the same time so unique. His journey has something of a happy ending, but its outcome is the beginning of another story in which he is nothing more than a pawn that the Republican governor of Texas moves as he pleases. Since the end of August 2022, Greg Abbott has sent hundreds of thousands of migrants from Texas to some of the supposedly most progressive cities in the country. The message is clear: if you love migrants so much, you take care of them.
No city is prepared to receive such a sudden and disorderly influx of migrants. Chicago, the capital of Illinois, which has 2.6 million residents, has received more than 40,000 migrants, about 2% of its original population. With these numbers, Abbotts move has achieved its desired result: it has called into question the historic welcoming identity of Chicago, exacerbated existing political tensions in the city, many of them racial, and has forced the local administration to improvise, sometimes poorly, a response for which there is no precedent.
The move has laid bare the partisan war between Republicans and Democrats, and the conflict between state and federal authorities over immigration powers. The crisis fueled by Abbots policies and Chicagos inability to respond to the situation has strengthened the idea that immigration is out of control, since not even its defenders how to address the problem.
The chaos began on August 31, 2022. On that day, a private bus carrying about 50 Latino migrants, mainly Venezuelans, arrived in Chicago unannounced from Texas. When they got off on a random street in the center of the city, they explained that in Texas, once they had been handed over to the authorities after crossing the border, they were asked which city they preferred to go to: New York, Washington where Texas had already been busing migrants for months or Chicago. Depending on the answer, based on whether they had a family member or friend there or simply heard something good about the place, they were put on one bus or the other. Then, they were bused more than a thousand miles north, not knowing what would await them.
By the end of September, more than 70 buses had arrived in Chicago with around 9,000 migrants. Abbott made no secret of his policy. I have directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to deploy additional buses to send these migrants to self-declared sanctuary cities and provide much-needed relief to our overrun border towns. Until President Biden upholds his constitutional duty to secure Americas southern border, Texas will continue to deploy as many buses as needed to relieve the strain caused by the surge of illegal crossings, the Texas governor said on September 22, 2022.
Since then the practice is still part of the Texas immigration policy called Operation Lone Star the focus has fallen mainly on Democrat Joe Biden. The U.S. president has taken note and imposed increasingly restrictive immigration rules, wary of how the crisis may affect the November elections. However, it has been the sanctuary cities which Abbott targets in a bid to expose their alleged moral hypocrisy, since this self-designation implies a commitment to provide shelter and food to migrants and to not collaborate with immigration agencies on deportations which, without substantial help from the federal government, have faced the problem.
From that first day, it has been a matter of improvising solutions on the go. Vernica Romn Saldaa, one of the coordinators of the Pilsen Food Pantry, a community organization that fights food insecurity, remembers what it was like. The local councilor looked for us when the buses started arriving. Our pantry director, Dr. Evelyn Figueroa, had run a homeless shelter during Covid, so she had experience. So they chose her to organize a small, temporary shelter. But what happened is that after a while, the owner of the building, which was borrowed, needed it back.
Chicago residents took action to help the migrants, just as they did during the pandemic and following the recent arrival of Afghans and Ukrainians. But acts of solidarity only go so far. The buses kept arriving and the idea of municipal shelters run in conjunction with charities did not take off; partly due to logistical difficulties, partly due to legal and bureaucratic obstacles. So a quick and supposedly easy decision was made: the migrants would be relocated to the citys police stations.
Twelve police stations were set up to house migrants. For many months, some of these facilities had more than 200 people. Migrants slept in sleeping bags in the halls and in plastic tents outside. Whats more, since the stations were work spaces and not homes, there was no access to showers or kitchens. With no clear plan, the first tensions began to arise. The police force which has a history of scandals and police brutality began to rebel. Some officers were dedicated to supporting migrants, but many others complained when they were forced to walk on tiptoe to avoid the bodies crammed into their offices. The situation made it impossible for them to fulfill their usual responsibilities. For the migrants, who were grateful that at least they were being given shelter and food, complaints were made about their treatment and conditions. At least one complaint of alleged sexual abuse by an officer was also filed, although the case has not been resolved and is progressing slowly.
By December 2022, winter was just around the corner, which in Chicago means temperatures as low as -22F (-30C). Municipal buildings as well as sports centers located in city parks were turned into social and community centers. It seemed like a better solution because they were larger spaces, with good heating and bathrooms with showers. Despite the enormous expense involved in opening these shelters, the challenge of what to do in winter was overcome.
When spring arrived, many of the migrants from the first months had been relocated to temporary housing or had gone to other parts of the country where they had acquaintances or a job offer, even if it was without papers. But this didnt make much of a difference, especially with what was to come. As the weather improved, border crossings increased again. Additionally, Chicago elected a new mayor: moderate Democrat Lori Lightfoot was replaced by Brandon Johnson, a progressive who began his political career during a city teachers union strike in 2012. Around that time it was also announced that the city would host the Democratic National Convention in 2024. Within weeks, the spotlight became fixed on Chicago. Abbott and the Republican Party stepped up their efforts to portray the city as an example of the dysfunctionality of progressive politicians.
For Johnson, a new strategy was needed to take the migrants out of police stations and municipal buildings in parks, which had stopped fulfilling their original purpose for local communities. This triggered tensions among citizens, who felt like they were being pushed out. But before anything could be planned, a new wave of migrants arrived from Texas.
Chicagos migrant reception systems, which includes a medical check-up and the practically immediate enrollment of minors in schools, neared breaking point. There was also not enough spaces to accommodate people, who began to sleep and live in bus stations, and soon in Chicagos two airports, as Texas also began to charter flights of migrants. Migrant arrivals peaked in the summer and early fall of 2023.
Last September, Chicago authorities presented a plan for the following winter: they would build a Tent City, camp made up of huge tents with heating and other facilities to house up to 2,000 migrants a similar plan to the field hospitals built in different cities around the world during the Covid pandemic. The Tent City would be flexible and could be adapted to the citys changing needs. For the city, it was the perfect solution.
It was the second major blow to the social fabric of Chicago. Initially, the public rejected the idea of housing migrants in tents during the harsh winter on the shores of Lake Michigan; they were unconvinced that the heated tents would be able to provide adequate shelter in such extreme temperatures. Despite this, the project started moving forward in the southern part of the city.
The South Side of Chicago is an area known for its historically high rate of poverty, lack of basic services and homelessness. It is estimated that the vast majority of the 60,000 homeless people in the city live mainly in the south. Chicagos South Side has also long been predominantly Black. These neighborhoods complained that the city intended to invest to help the newcomers, when it had not invested in the community who had been living there for decades. It was an idea that reverberated through local businesses, the streets, and eventually trickled into municipal offices. Tensions were high.
The crisis was a victory for Abbott, as it showed the friction between local authorities, which had been downplayed by the progressive coalition. Councilor Byron Sigcho-Lpez, an important ally of Mayor Johnson in one of the most Latino locations in the city, is clear on this point. We have become a target and they want to destroy coalitions like ours to make us an example of what happens when people believe in democracy. The councilor adds that migration should not be seen as something negative, pointing out that migrants are needed as there are many vacant jobs throughout the country. He explains that the problem is when the arrivals are concentrated in one place and push reception services to the limit.
During the fall, Johnson did his best to keep the Tent City plan alive, but amidst citizen opposition and the results of the soil studies, which found high levels of toxic substances on the site where the camp was to be built, it was announced in early December that the contract was being cancelled. Efforts were then made to relocate the migrants who were in police stations and airports to temporary shelters. By that time, there were around 30 temporary shelters, including converted hotels and industrial warehouses as well as municipal buildings, with an average of 500 occupants in each. By December 17, a few days before the official beginning of winter, the migrants still in police stations and airports had been removed. Victory was claimed but too soon.
Hundreds of people had been relocated, but the shelters were now completely overcrowded. The weather exacerbated the conditions, keeping everyone inside at all hours. There was a spike in complaints from migrants about the treatment and quality of the food. And as a final consequence, with the lessons of the pandemic about distancing and infections forgotten, there was an outbreak of measles in the largest shelter in the city, a warehouse in the industrial area of the Pilsen neighborhood where about 1,200 people were living.
There were never any exact figures on how many infections there were, in fact for a long time it was denied that it had happened. But the preventable death of a five-year-old child from respiratory complications in March made it impossible to hide the seriousness of the situation. Lopez, in whose district the shelter is located, again sought help from the Pilsen Food Pantry, given its director had also helped coordinate Covid vaccination efforts. In less than a week, they had inoculated all the shelter residents, and the volunteer medical team linked with the organization began making rounds to the rest of the citys shelters for vaccinations and regular checkups.
It was one of the worst moments for the administration. Their basic needs were not being met. Nobody is asking for a red carpet or five-star hotels, but at least give them the basics, treat them like human beings. Its difficult, there is a lot that needs to be done. At least now the city has changed the procedures in the arrival areas: now they are vaccinated immediately and a medical examination is done, explains Vernica Romn Saldaa.
Since then, the management of new arrivals has improved substantially. But challenges remain, and there is reluctance to accept responsibility for past mistakes. The citys budget is overstretched, even though it has received significant aid from the Illinois state government, and the outlook for the remainder of the year is far from clear.
In order to empty the shelters, the same system as in New York was put in place, limiting lengths of stay to 30 days for single adults or 60 for families. In Chicago, the plan was announced in early March and began to be implemented in April, but exceptions for families with school children, the vast majority, and people with medical conditions, meant that by mid-May only about 700 people had been moved out of the shelters. Whats more, as the weather improves, the flow of migrants from Texas is expected to increase again, although this depends on border crossings, which are currently at relatively low levels for the time of year, mainly due to the cooperative agreement with the Mexican government.
But in Chicago they dont trust the downward trend. They know that they have the Democratic National Convention at the end of August, and they suspect that Abbott will want to cause more chaos to make it look like the Democrat Party is incapable of governing. Mayor Brandon Johnson believes there is only one quick and effective solution to the situation: granting work permits for migrants. In early April he led a petition with several other mayors of smaller cities addressed to President Biden precisely along these lines.
Walking around the city it is evident that workers are needed: there are plenty of signs and ads looking for bus or train drivers, cooks, cleaners, delivery people, builders, and a long etcetera. There is also no lack of desire to work, to pursue the American dream. Antonio Contreras is the perfect example. Early in the morning he sets up his informal business at the doors of that industrial building that is the largest shelter in the city. He has been selling soft drinks, juices, cookies, chips, gum and candy since he arrived in Chicago three months ago. With his earnings turned into savings, and reconverted into investment, he has bought a car. He doesnt care if he doesnt know what goes on in the offices of mayors, governors or presidents. But in his reflections, he sums up the simplicity and complexity of the problem: I just want to work and raise my family.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAS USA Edition
See original here:
Chicago struggles to cope with mass influx of migrants sent from Texas - EL PAS USA
- Top Adams aide overseeing migrant crisis response hit with federal subpoena: reports - amNY - September 21st, 2024 [September 21st, 2024]
- Vivek Ramaswamy to host town hall in Springfield, Ohio on migrant crisis - Fox News - September 21st, 2024 [September 21st, 2024]
- Follow The Money: Funding The Biden-Harris Migrant Crisis - The Daily Wire - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- Investigation will expose Biden-Harris admin over migrant crisis: AFLs Gene Hamilton - Fox Business - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- JUST IN - Netherlands To Declare State Of Emergency Amid Illegal Migrant Crisis And Will Ask For Opt-out From EU Migration Policy - GreekCityTimes.com - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- Ohio residents plead for help amid migrant crisis: 'I want out of this town' - KEYE TV CBS Austin - September 12th, 2024 [September 12th, 2024]
- Residents of Springfield, Ohio attend city council meeting to share frustration about migrant crisis hitting their community - Fox News - September 12th, 2024 [September 12th, 2024]
- Exclusive | The US migrant crisis, explained: Special NY Post video report breaks down how we got here from the border to the Big Apple - New York... - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Republican Lawmakers call on Acting Governor Bill Galvin to address migrant crisis - WWLP.com - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- EU migration policy is getting tougher: the 3 new tactics used to keep African migrants out - The Conversation - June 16th, 2024 [June 16th, 2024]
- New York Begins a New Wave of Evictions From Migrant Shelters - The New York Times - May 28th, 2024 [May 28th, 2024]
- Your City Doesn't Have a Migrant Crisis Yet? Just Ask Denver for its New How-To Guide. | FAIRUS.org - Federation for American Immigration Reform - May 28th, 2024 [May 28th, 2024]
- Poland's New Government Continues Migrant Pushbacks on Belarus Border - Balkan Insight - May 28th, 2024 [May 28th, 2024]
- Migrants and advocates brace for stricter rules in NYC shelters as evictions loom - Gothamist - May 23rd, 2024 [May 23rd, 2024]
- DEMANDING TRANSPARENCY FROM MIGRANT CRISIS CONTRACTORS The Warwick Valley Dispatch - wvdispatch.com - May 23rd, 2024 [May 23rd, 2024]
- Biden should know that the migrant crisis is also in Massachusetts - The Boston Globe - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Spiked buoys and razor wire: Texas tackles the migrant crisis with brutal border defences - The Telegraph - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Exhibition shows how photographer Dorothea Lange was so good at 'Seeing People' - NPR - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- On the Arizona Border, Even a Slow Day Is Busy - The New York Times - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Biden and Trump to host dueling border visits on migrant crisis - FOX 47 News Lansing - Jackson - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Denver to close migrant shelters in effort to save $60 million amid budget deficit - Denver 7 Colorado News - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- The Migration Crisis in Central America: How Domestic NGOs from Panama Are Central to the US Migration Strategy - LSE Home - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Chicago Officials Tackle Migrant Crisis, Rapid Resettlement from Shelters to Homes Sparks Tension and Concern - Hoodline - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Surge of migrants causing strain on border resources - LEX 18 News - Lexington, KY - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- Denver Congresswoman Introduces Legislation to Address Migrant Crisis and Reform Immigration - Citizentribune - March 2nd, 2024 [March 2nd, 2024]
- New York's $2.4 Billion Not Enough to Solve Migrant Crisis, Governor Warns - Newsweek - January 16th, 2024 [January 16th, 2024]
- Hochul's $233 billion budget to maintain migrant aid, avoid tax hikes - POLITICO - January 16th, 2024 [January 16th, 2024]
- The Migrant Crisis On The Border And The Hill : The NPR Politics Podcast - NPR - January 16th, 2024 [January 16th, 2024]
- Proviso Suburbs Are Regulating Unscheduled Buses As Migrant Crisis Enters Harsh Winter - Village Free Press | - January 16th, 2024 [January 16th, 2024]
- OTR: Mayor Wu weighs in on migrant shelter crisis in Mass. - WCVB Boston - January 16th, 2024 [January 16th, 2024]
- New York Gov. Hochul To Propose $2 Billion to Deal With Migrant Crisis - The Messenger - January 16th, 2024 [January 16th, 2024]
- Hochul reveals $233 billion budget proposal - Spectrum News NY1 - January 16th, 2024 [January 16th, 2024]
- Gov. Pritzker wants state lawmakers to backfill $160 million that went toward migrant crisis - NBC Chicago - January 16th, 2024 [January 16th, 2024]
- Many Older Immigrants in New York Are Struggling: 'I Have No Future' - The New York Times - January 16th, 2024 [January 16th, 2024]
- Chaos, Fury, Mistakes: 600 Days Inside New York's Migrant Crisis - The New York Times - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- Want to Solve the Border Crisis? Legalize Immigration. - The Daily Beast - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- Migrant crisis: Work permit waits leave some in limbo - The Boston Globe - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- Bus drops off asylum-seekers in Fox River Grove; migrants were told they had arrived in Chicago - NBC Chicago - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- NYC Mayor Adams Says He Can't Get Meeting With Biden Amid Migrant Crisis: 'It Baffles Me' - The Messenger - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- Working Class Perspectives on the 'Migrant Crisis' - The Texas Observer - December 23rd, 2023 [December 23rd, 2023]
- Denver's migrant shelter capacity, already at its highest ever, sees 300 more migrants arrive in a single day - Denver 7 Colorado News - December 23rd, 2023 [December 23rd, 2023]
- The EU isn't serious about tackling the migrant crisis - The Spectator - December 23rd, 2023 [December 23rd, 2023]
- November saw nearly quarter of a million migrant encounters amid new border surge - Yahoo News - December 23rd, 2023 [December 23rd, 2023]
- Arizona National Guard, CBP responding separately to migrant crisis - KGUN 9 Tucson News - December 23rd, 2023 [December 23rd, 2023]
- Faith leaders ask NYC to contract faith-based organizations to help with migrant crisis - News 12 Bronx - December 23rd, 2023 [December 23rd, 2023]
- Mayor Adams urges New Yorkers to go to Washington and complain about migrant crisis, budget - New York Daily News - December 23rd, 2023 [December 23rd, 2023]
- Letters: The city is rising to meet the moment for migrants and Palestinians. What about state, federal leaders? - Chicago Tribune - December 23rd, 2023 [December 23rd, 2023]
- Mass. migrant crisis: Overnight shelter in Cambridge to open - The Boston Globe - December 23rd, 2023 [December 23rd, 2023]
- Chicago faces a migrant crisis as it prepares to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention - POLITICO - POLITICO - October 23rd, 2023 [October 23rd, 2023]
- Legislators in Albany need to tackle the migrant crisis - liherald.com - October 23rd, 2023 [October 23rd, 2023]
- Hochul extends state of emergency over migrant situtation - Spectrum News - October 23rd, 2023 [October 23rd, 2023]
- Rockland County says landlords are packing migrant families into homes for profits - NBC New York - October 21st, 2023 [October 21st, 2023]
- As More Migrants Arrive in New York, Adams Toughens Approach to Shelters - The New York Times - October 21st, 2023 [October 21st, 2023]
- Mayor Not Heading To US Border To Assess Migrant Crisis, As City ... - Block Club Chicago - October 21st, 2023 [October 21st, 2023]
- An art project visualizes the migrant crisis - Chicago Reader - October 21st, 2023 [October 21st, 2023]
- After White House meeting, Hochul touts 'first step' on migrant crisis help - New York Daily News - August 31st, 2023 [August 31st, 2023]
- CEOs Back New York's Call for Help With Migrant Crisis - The New York Times - August 31st, 2023 [August 31st, 2023]
- NYCs Homeless Shelters Are Straining to Adapt to the Migrant Crisis - The New York Times - July 2nd, 2023 [July 2nd, 2023]
- After Failing To Respond To Migrant Crisis, City Council's Immigration Committee Calls On Itself To Meet More Often - Block Club Chicago - July 2nd, 2023 [July 2nd, 2023]
- Beyond the Greece Boat Disaster: Tracing the Roots of the Migration ... - MRonline.org - July 2nd, 2023 [July 2nd, 2023]
- Darien Gap Tourism, the trivialization of the migrant crisis - Confidencial - July 2nd, 2023 [July 2nd, 2023]
- The Irish Times view on the EU's response to the migrant crisis: a ... - The Irish Times - July 2nd, 2023 [July 2nd, 2023]
- Stop the boats? How Andrew Marr would tackle the migrant crisis - LBC - July 2nd, 2023 [July 2nd, 2023]
- Toll of Border Crisis on States, Part 4: New York City - Heritage.org - July 2nd, 2023 [July 2nd, 2023]
- NYC's new $107B budget deal will include $4 billion annually for ... - New York Daily News - July 2nd, 2023 [July 2nd, 2023]
- Titan and migrants: Two tragedies, different stories - TheCable - July 2nd, 2023 [July 2nd, 2023]
- Ahead of Administration's Title 42 Suspension, Sinema Meets with ... - Kyrsten Sinema - May 8th, 2023 [May 8th, 2023]
- With Another Migrant Crisis Around Corner, San Diego Begs Feds ... - Voice of San Diego - May 8th, 2023 [May 8th, 2023]
- Leonard Quart: In NYC, practical costs and moral stakes of a migrant ... - Berkshire Eagle - May 8th, 2023 [May 8th, 2023]
- $12.5 million in funding coming to El Paso, Texas for migrant crisis - KPIC News - May 8th, 2023 [May 8th, 2023]
- Tunisia facing unprecedented migration crisis as bodies wash ashore - Reuters - May 8th, 2023 [May 8th, 2023]
- Devastating scenes reveal the true nature of the migrant crisis in El Paso - New York Post - May 8th, 2023 [May 8th, 2023]
- Robert Kennedy Jr. says Biden 'should have closed borders' amid immigration 'crisis' - New York Post - May 8th, 2023 [May 8th, 2023]
- The Mincing Rascals 5.3.23: ComEd 4 trial, I-55 Crash, Migrant crisis, and more - WGN Radio - Chicago - May 8th, 2023 [May 8th, 2023]
- The Jordanian Response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis from a ... - E-International Relations - May 8th, 2023 [May 8th, 2023]
- Biden sending 1,500 troops to southern border as Title 42 ends but not to secure the border - New York Post - May 8th, 2023 [May 8th, 2023]
- Chicago Park District spring programs impacted in Avondale due to migrant housing - FOX 32 Chicago - May 8th, 2023 [May 8th, 2023]
- Mayor, governor warn of critical tipping point in migrant crisis - CBS Chicago - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- 'No camping rule' goes into effect as hundreds of migrants remain on streets of El Paso - KFOX El Paso - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Migrant crisis in the Mediterranean The Irish Times - The Irish Times - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]