Incoming Migrants To The City Of Chicago
Since August 2022, migrants have been sent from the South of the United States border to Chicago and other places in America. Ever since then, most recently, more than 10,500 new arrivals have come to the city. Due to the number of arrivals, there was a lot of debate between local officials and communities over how would it be best to help the migrants.
The city has spent more than $100 million. Most of the grant was for personnel costs. In fact, $72.6 million was spent on staff. The rest was to provide financial support for those individuals and families that were seeking shelter. The funds were distributed as the following:
- $10.6 million to house asylum-seekers outside of shelters.
Courtesy of Jeanne Menjoulet (Flickr CCO) - $9.1 million on food.
- $4.1 million on facility maintenance.
- $4 million on rental assistance.
- $600,000 on legal services.
- $250,000 on transportation for the new arrivals.
Mayor Johnson Is Also Taking Part In Supporting the Migrant Crisis
Mayor Johnson is also trying to make a positive impact on this problem because there are a lot of new arrivals and it is getting to a point where the established shelters are overflowing, and it’s definitely getting overwhelming for everybody.
Roughly 460 migrants were still sleeping on the floors of the Chicago Police District stations. While others slept at O’Hare Airport, community parks, etc. However, opening five more shelters is seriously being considered. As of right now, there are a dozen shelters all around the city of Chicago.
Furthermore, since this is now a migrant crisis, the goal of the potential shelters is that Chicago wants to take steps to reach a capacity of nearly 2,500 for all shelters combined, including a former Marine Corps Reserve Center and a former Broadway Armory in Edgewater.
Additionally, Mayor Johnson’s administration also plans to open a center at Roberto Clemente Community Academy High School. On a good note, Pritzker, a politician, says that the city of Chicago is doing a great deal more than it was in the last several months with Mayor Johnson’s leadership, by contributing to this migrant crisis.
He also said, “There are many more people who are getting shelter through the city of as a result of the work being done under this new administration than it had been done before.”
Written by Jeanette Sanchez
Sources:
Chicago Suntimes: Chicago could open as many as 5 migrant shelters
Yahoo! News Chicago Tribune: Chicago’s cost to care for migrants arriving since August tops $100 million
Featured Image Courtesy of Rex Pe Flickr Page-Creative Commons License
Inset Images Courtesy of Jeanne Menjoulet Flickr Page-Creative Commons License
