Chicago’s migrant crisis sparks chaos as homeless population swells by 200% in just one year

The chaos has worsened Chicago as the homeless The population has tripled in just one year as migrants continue to move to the Windy City.

The city’s annual snapshot, released Friday, found that 18,836 people will be homeless in Chicago in 2024, up from 6,139 in 2023 — a total of a staggering 200 percent increase.

The unhoused population under the term ‘sheltered newcomers’ was counted at 13,679 as of January 25, while 212 ‘unsheltered newcomers’ were recorded.

Shockingly, the number of 212 unprotected newcomers – that is, people sleeping on the streets – is a 960 percent increase from 2023, when the number was just 20.

A total of 1,422 ‘unsheltered non-newcomers’ were recorded, along with 3,523 ‘sheltered non-newcomers’. The number of non-asylum seekers on the city’s streets has increased by 25 percent compared to last year’s total of 3,943.

Chicago’s homeless population has grown threefold from 2023, reaching a total of 18,836 in January 2024

Migrants have taken over the city streets; 13,679 were counted as homeless ‘sheltered newcomers’, while 212 were counted as homeless ‘unsheltered newcomers’

Of the 200 percent increase in homelessness in the city, 30 percent were children under the age of 18. Chicago Sun Times reported.

Maura McCauley, deputy commissioner of the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services, said the city has attempted to resettle more than 43,000 migrants.

‘Those things happened together. There was no stopping to serve another population,” McCauley told the Chicago Sun Times.

According to the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, a person who is homeless is defined as someone who “lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime shelter.”

Before the migrant crisis, the number of people becoming homeless in one evening gradually decreased. In 2020 it rose again, but in 2021 and 2022 it fell again.

McCauley said the recent uptick has occurred because support for the COVID-19 pandemic has ended.

“We really think this is because pandemic-era support, such as SNAP benefits and state and federal stimulus, came to an end between 2022 and 2023. And the housing market in Chicago has become increasingly less affordable,” McCauley said.

‘We anticipated this increase, but at the same time we increased our reception capacity more than fivefold. And if we hadn’t done that, we really think we would have seen a truly unprecedented and tragic increase in our unprotected population,” she added.

The city’s annual snapshot, released Friday, showed that 18,836 people will be homeless in Chicago in 2024, up from 6,139 in 2023

Johnson has long been at the forefront of the migrant crisis that has taken over Chicago. In April, angry Chicagoans attacked Johnson for allocating $70 million to migrant care

According to a city report, when the homeless population was counted early this year, 9,165 permanent housing beds were recorded, while 2,979 rapid housing beds and 304 other permanent housing beds were counted.

McCauley said the intense spike in homelessness shows how much the city needs more federal resources to fix the problem.

Of the more than 900 migrants removed from shelters in the city, about 55 percent are still living in facilities, officials said. WTTW News.

Mayor Brandon Johnson, who has been at the center of the massive migrant crisis, began imposing restrictions on how long migrants can stay in shelters.

His administration ruled that migrants had 60 days to stay in city-run shelters after many of them arrived on buses from the Texas border.

Family and Support Services Commissioner Brandie Knazze said city officials “do not anticipate a mass departure from shelters” because “a number of expansions remain in place and shelter departure dates are staggered depending on when individuals entered the shelter .’

“The city of Chicago continues to maintain one of the most generous policies for asylum seekers of any major city in the United States,” Knazze said.

She added that all residents have the option to “re-enter temporary shelters” if they cannot find safe housing after being evicted.

According to the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, a person who is homeless is defined as someone who “lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime shelter.”

Frustrated citizens remain confused about the recently released statistics, as one claimed that Mayor Johnson announced just three months ago that there were more than 68,000 migrants in the city.

“The city’s official count is 18.8k, including 13.6k sheltered migrants. Lying about statistics doesn’t build trust,” someone posted on X in response to the data.

Johnson has long been in the grip of the migrant crisis plaguing Chicago.

In April, angry Chicagoans rushed Johnson for allocating $70 million to migrant care.

Concerned citizens spoke directly to the mayor at a meeting where officials were originally expected to vote on funding for migrant services in the Windy City.

Johnson, a progressive, has long defended the city’s policies and planned to get councilors to accept the requested funds even though the city has has already invested $300 million in the crisis.

A woman, wearing a red MAGA cowboy hat and a “Chicago RED” t-shirt, punched Johnson and said, “We need that money in my neighborhood, we need that money in my neighborhood.”

“So I ask you to use our tax money for our people, we need it,” she added.

However, the meeting ended without a vote as the city’s councilors postponed a decision on the funding request.

This has recently become apparent Johnson managed to burn $30,000 on personal care in one year, with most of the money spent on makeup.

To pay for makeup and hair appointments, Johnson used the money his supporters contributed to his Friends of Brandon Johnson campaign fund.

Most of the $30,000 went to Denise Milloy, a makeup artist and self-proclaimed “skin care enthusiast” who operates on the city’s south side.

The rest of the amount, $4,000, was spent on hair appointments at a beauty salon.

Between 2023 and 2024, Johnson made more than 30 payments to Milloy’s ‘Makeup Majic’.

The payments that preceded the mayor’s election are listed under headings such as: ‘Make-up of the candidates for TV’, ‘Make-up of the candidates’, ‘Make-up of the candidates’ and ‘Make-up of the candidates for debate.’

However, after Johnson was elected, his payments to ‘Makeup Majic’ fell under the vague and generic title of ‘campaign expenses’.