Fifty coaches carrying migrants have arrived in Chicago since last week and authorities are preparing to get up to 25 buses with about 1,250 people on them to start arriving each day.
The flooding has caused major problems and sparked a backlash from residents in the city, which has long run out of shelters and has allowed asylum seekers to sleep at O’Hare Airport and police stations across the city.
In a scathing letter to President Biden Monday, Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker accused the feds of failing to provide enough help to the city — a sentiment echoed by many other American mayors as the crisis unfolded.
“The humanitarian crisis is overwhelming our ability to provide assistance to the refugee population. Unfortunately, the response and assistance that Illinois provides to these asylum seekers is not matched by the support of the federal government.
“Most critically, the federal government’s lack of intervention and coordination at the border has created an untenable situation for Illinois.”
Terminals at both Chicago airports have been turned into temporary immigrant shelters as tent cities are erectedTNS via Getty Images Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D.) criticized the Biden administration’s response to the immigrant crisis in a letter MondayAP
More than 17,000 immigrants have already been sent to Chicago from the border since August 2022 but the number is rising with new arrivals according to Beatriz Ponce de Leon, Chicago’s deputy mayor for immigrant, immigrant and refugee rights.
About 9,800 migrants are currently living in shelters in the city, while more than 3,000 are awaiting resettlement.
More than $330 million has been spent by the state on the crisis, Pritzker said. The lobby of the police station has become crowded with desperate families sleeping on the floor, and they have spilled onto the sidewalk where portable toilets are placed.
Terminals at O’Hare and Midway airports have been set aside for hundreds of migrants hiding 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 winter tents and relocate immigrants living in police stations and airports there.
However, the $29.4 million project was met with outrage, as the construction contract was signed with the same security firm tasked with transporting the immigrants — GardaWorld Federal Services.
A fifth bus of newcomers has already arrived in Chicago since last week. That number will increaseREUTERS
“Knowing that we’re paying the same company that was responsible for sending them here, that is now responsible for taking care of them, is like asking the fire department to put out a fire and put it out at the same time,” the Chicago City Council said. Alderman Ray Lopez, according to NBC Chicago.
He also questions the viability of tents that can 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 work in sub-zero weather, Chicago style, is amazing to me,” he said.
Plans to build shelters have also met with opposition from residents of their intended neighborhoods.
On Tuesday, members of the Galewood neighborhood staged a protest against plans to erect a shelter at Amundsen Fieldhouse, arguing it would replace community-focused programming for children and youth.
About 17,000 immigrants have arrived in Chicago since August 2022. About 1,250 are now expected to arrive each dayAFP via Getty Images
“You want to take the few resources we have and put us at the bottom of the barrel? That’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 turning public spaces – including police station lobbies – into migrant shelters not only harms local communities, but violates migrants’ human rights.
“If you call it a humanitarian effort, they shouldn’t be sleeping in the police station on the floor,” organizer Brian Mullins said.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
