Chicago warms new migrants on stalled buses as the weather turns nasty
Chicago could see its coldest temperatures since 2019 in the coming days, city officials said Friday. Mayor Brandon Johnson said the city was ready to protect both residents and newly arrived migrants during the unusually brutal winter conditions.
A 60-day limit on stays in city shelters would be temporarily lifted because of the snow and forecast temperatures that would follow, the mayor said.
“We will not be turning new arrivals out into the cold this winter,” Mr Johnson said at a news conference. “Our mission is to continue to live our values and welcome newcomers.” More than 14,500 migrants are in city shelters.
The mayor criticized Governor Greg Abbott of Texas for continuing to send asylum seekers to Chicago under such circumstances. About 140 migrants waited Friday for shelter in the “landing zone” in the city center, where busloads of migrants from Texas arrive daily.
Ten city buses were parked at the landing zone on Friday with working heaters to provide temporary shelter for arriving migrants, and the city was prepared to place additional buses there if necessary, Mr. Johnson said.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker on Friday echoed Mr Johnson's criticism in a letter to Mr Abbott, imploring him to stop sending migrants to Chicago in the winter.
“You are now sending asylum seekers from Texas to the Upper Midwest in the dead of winter — many without coats, without shoes to protect them from the snow — to a city whose shelters are already overcrowded with the migrants you sent here,” the Mr. Pritzker. wrote. “Your insensitivity, sending buses and planes full of migrants in this weather, is now life-threatening to all arrivals.”
Maggie O'Keefe, spokeswoman for Chi-Care, an organization that helps the homeless, said the group would serve lunch and dinner to the newcomers. The group will also visit homeless people staying outdoors in parks and under overpasses, she said.
“When there is a snowstorm or bad weather, we typically see fewer people living in tent camps,” Ms O'Keefe said. “The weather influences whether or not they will live on the streets.”
Jose Tirado, executive director of the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications, urged Chicagoans to exercise caution as temperatures drop in the coming days and winds strengthen. He said anyone in the city who needed shelter or a place to warm up could call 311 and be connected to services and information.