Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson quietly signs $26 MILLION contract with security firm to build migrant camps
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has quietly signed a $26 million contract with a security firm to build base camps for migrants, as residents beg the city’s Democratic leaders to stop allowing asylum seekers into the state.
The city’s deal with controversial firm Garda World, signed last week, includes at least six sites across the city, with zones for between 200 and 1,400 asylum seekers. It also includes bedding, laundry, showers, three meals a day and security.
It comes as Chicagoans are increasingly concerned about a wave of asylum seekers arriving on buses from southern states. Many of the migrants were transported north from Republican border states in an effort to prove that Democrats’ open arms policy is a disaster.
Chicago has seen 11,000 migrants arrive in the city since August 2022, the mayor’s deputy chief of staff, Cristina Pacione-Zayas, said in late June. The flow of migrants is expected to cost taxpayers $302 million by the end of the year.
“I want to know if there is a capacity limit and what is that limit if there is one?” one city resident asked at a community event this week. “And why can’t we close the borders of Chicago or the state of Illinois in the first place? Why can’t we close the border?’
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has quietly signed a $26 million contract with a security company to build base camps for migrants. Chicago has seen 11,000 migrants arrive since August 2022
“I want to know if there is a capacity limit and what is that limit if there is one?” one city resident asked at a community event this week
Councilman Ronnie Mosley blamed the federal government for allowing asylum seekers into the country, and Texas, which he said was “Texas making the decision to send them to Chicago.”
The contract requires the company to provide “emergency logistics management and operational services that will provide shelter… and other necessary services (referred to as “a base camp” or “solution”)” for the new arrivals,” as reported by the Chicago Tribune .
Earlier this month, Johnson announced he planned to move about 1,600 migrants currently living in police stations or at O’Hare or Midway airports.
Garda World has faced backlash in the past for its projects in Denver, Texas and Florida. The company has previously offered migrant services, including detention. The company was one of the finalists for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ plans to move migrants to Democratic-run cities.
Meanwhile, Mayor Johnson defended the deal with Garda World, arguing it is a way to accommodate the migrants who have so far been staying in police stations and at the airport.
“Mayor Johnson’s first priority is to replace police stations with base camp shelters,” Johnson’s office said in a statement. “Using this contract, the city can quickly establish base camps and move newcomers from Chicago Police Department district stations more quickly as the weather begins to change.
“As with all city-run shelters, there will be a system in place for individuals to file complaints if issues arise. The shelters will be operated in accordance with American Red Cross standards and will be equipped with HVAC systems and heated to a comfortable temperature during cold weather.
“The base camps will be included in the city’s temporary shelter toolbox and will provide a safe, short-term space with access to immediate care and resources.”
A migrant father from Venezuela changes his 15-month-old son’s diaper in the lobby of a police station
Mayor Johnson defended the deal with Garda World, arguing it is a way to accommodate the migrants who have so far stayed in police stations and at the airport.
Hundreds of migrants are being hidden behind this black curtain at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, where asylum seekers have reported inhumane living conditions, with families forced to sleep on the floor for up to 10 days.
Officials in Chicago have said they will build tent shelters for migrants like those in New York City. The migrant camps set up on New York’s Randall’s Island can be seen above
The number of migrants needing shelter in Chicago has continued to increase in recent months, and city leaders have said they will follow New York’s lead by converting several locations around the city into migrant shelters.
“We have identified several locations in the city that may be appropriate to process the family and individuals who are here by law and seeking constitutional and legal asylum, so that they have a place that recognizes their dignity,” Johnson said.
Chicago officials have yet to specify which locations they are looking at, but they will reportedly be climate-controlled, military-grade tents, according to Councilwoman Maria Hadden.
The former parking lot of the Halsted Indoor Mall at 115th and Halsted Streets could be one of the locations for a planned tent camp, CBS Chicago reported. The space would be redeveloped into affordable housing, but is currently vacant
Last week, Democratic lawmakers from Chicago traveled to New York City to “bring back” lessons on how to deal with a wave of migrants in the Windy City.
Furious New Yorkers interrupted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who was leading their visit, outside Manhattan’s iconic Roosevelt Hotel, which has become the center of the Big Apple’s migrant scandal.
Lawmakers were forced to interrupt the press conference as the crowd continued to drown out Ocasio-Cortez.
‘Close the border! Close the border! Respect the AOC Constitution! I am your voter!’ a man shouted over the congressman’s speech into a megaphone.