Outraged Chicagoans have filed a lawsuit against the city after it announced plans to house illegal immigrants in a disused South Side high school.
The old South Shore High School is expected to become a temporary shelter for up to 500 migrants, but officials have not clarified for how long.
The lawsuit was brought after hundreds of South Shore residents crowded into an auditorium on May 4 and bombarded local officials with criticism of plans to house the migrants in the school, complaining about safety and a lack of consultation.
“How could you do that without consulting us?” said one resident.
“I’m concerned about security in the area,” said another.
‘Build the wall. Make a border,’ shouted one resident.
Chicago residents have filed a lawsuit against the city after it announced plans to house illegal immigrants in a disused high school. Pictured is Natasha Dunn, one of the plaintiffs
Chicago’s disused South Shore High School (pictured) is expected to become a temporary shelter for up to 500 migrants
“When it comes to the total number of people on South Shore at any given time, it’s variable,” a local leader said to a jeering audience last week when asked how many people it was likely to house. “We would start with 250 to 500.”
Nubia Willman, a city hall official, was also booed when she faced the crowd. “What’s important is that we really establish that this is a humanitarian crisis, and we’re here,” she said.
“While this crisis may represent an emergency for the City of Chicago, it is not an emergency for the South Shore community,” said Councilor Michelle A. Harris.
Many of those residents have now united and a lawsuit was filed on Thursday alleging that the school was not intended for residential use and residents had not been properly consulted about the plans.
The lawsuit comes days after Mayor Lori Lightfoot declared a state of emergency over the arrival of migrants in Chicago, which she said had reached a “breaking point.”
“We’re out of space. I can’t stress that enough,” Lightfoot said.
On Monday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott told Lightfoot he would not stop transporting migrants from northern Texas to Chicago.
A local leader (pictured) told the crowd at a rally on May 4 that it would begin moving 250 to 500 migrants to the school
In recent weeks, migrants have overwhelmed police station lobbies faster than the city was able to open shelters. Pictured are migrants at a Chicago police station
Natasha Dunn, J. Darnell Jones and “South Shore neighbors” are plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed Thursday in County Court against the city and Chicago Public Schools, according to Block Club Chicago.
“Members of the Black Community Collaborative, South Shore voters and stakeholders are extremely dismayed at the City of Chicago’s inability to monitor and develop safe parameters around housing migrants brought here from the border,” Dunn said at a press conference on Thursday.
Lawyer Frank Avila also spoke at the conference. “We want the refugees and asylum seekers and migrants to come in, but we have areas in the city where they can go. Not centralized in one community,” he said.
“There has to be community participation and community input,” Avila said.
“When we talk about migrants and asylum seekers who came from violent countries, who came from war, who came from poverty, why do we place them in an area where they can be further traumatized?”
A number of residents have said the migrants should be transferred to a North Side facility — a sentiment echoed by Jones, a prosecutor in the lawsuit.
Why not Pilsen, Belmont Cragin, Logan Square, Little Village, South Chicago, South Deering, or Hegewisch? Communities that have a supportive cultural infrastructure?’ Jones said.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot is pictured Tuesday declaring a state of emergency over the arrival of migrants in Chicago
More than 8,000 have been bussed from the border to Chicago since August. In recent weeks, migrants have overwhelmed police station lobbies faster than the city was able to open shelters.
The declaration that the city is in a state of crisis comes as Lightfoot approaches the end of her term. On Monday, new mayor Brandon Johnson will be sworn in, inheriting a problem that Lightfoot himself said is likely to get worse.
Earlier this month, Lightfoot pleaded with Texas Governor Greg Abbott to stop the movement of migrants north from Texas.
In the letter posted to Twitter on Sunday, Lightfoot urged Abbott to reconsider “this dangerous and inhumane action.”
She said she sympathized with Texas border towns taking up the issue, but said shifting responsibility to other cities would not solve it.