New footage shows a Chicago police station packed with mattresses and dozens of illegal migrants as the city struggles to accommodate the hundreds of new people crossing the border every day.
Chicago officials have said they cannot afford to rent hotel rooms for the thousands of migrants arriving in their city and have pushed for more federal funds.
Due to the lack of available shelters, some migrants have turned to police stations for a safe place to sleep.
Videos and photos showed hallways in a Chicago district littered with mattresses and personal belongings with migrants camped out.
Chicago is one of several Democratic-controlled cities where Southern states have been transporting migrants as the crisis on the US-Mexico border deepens.
Dozens and dozens of illegal migrants sleep on the floor of a Chicago police station as the city struggles to accommodate the hordes of border crossings that arrive daily
Chicago’s migrant housing crisis follows last week’s end to the Trump-era COVID-19 border restriction known as Title 42, which allowed U.S. authorities to send migrants back to Mexico without giving them the chance to seek asylum. to ask.
Tens of thousands of people rushed to illegally cross the border into the US before President Joe Biden introduced a strict new asylum policy to replace Title 42.
In the shocking images posted by photojournalist Rebecca BrannonDozens and dozens of migrants are seen sitting on and around fully made mattresses in a Chicago police station.
Brannon reported that many of the migrants have been sleeping and eating on the floor, which has put a strain on law enforcement officials whose day-to-day jobs have been made more difficult by their presence.
Small children were seen running around and an alley is filled with rubbish produced by the migrants.
More than 8,000 migrants have arrived in Chicago since August, when southern states began shipping asylum seekers north. Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent the migrants to ease the burden on border towns.
“To provide much-needed relief to our overrun border communities, Texas began shipping migrants to sanctuary cities like your “Welcoming City,” along with Washington, DC, New York City, and Philadelphia, with more to come. Until Biden secures the border to stop the influx of mass migration, Texas will continue this necessary program,” Abbott wrote in a letter earlier this month.
Migrants have been sent to cities like Philadelphia and New York, they have also been sent to Washington, DC where they arrived at the home of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Migrants sit on and around fully made mattresses in a Chicago police station
Children are seen running around and playing in the station as the migrants wait for instructions on where they will be sent
Despite the city’s blatant overcrowding, new mayor Brandon Johnson, a progressive Democrat who took office Monday, said in his inaugural address that there is “enough room for everyone” in Chicago
Earlier in May, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, of the GOP, resumed his campaign to have migrants arriving near the Texas border bused to major cities controlled by Democrats.
Migrants have arrived in Chicago and other Democratic cities such as New York and Philadelphia
Despite Chicago’s blatant overcrowding, new mayor Brandon Johnson, a progressive Democrat who took office Monday, said in his inaugural address that there is “enough room for everyone” in Chicago.
Johnson’s affirmed commitment to welcoming migrants to Chicago follows its predecessor – Lori Lightfoot’s decision to declare a state of emergency earlier this month, which called the arrival of migrants a “humanitarian crisis” and pushed for more federal aid.
Chicago officials have said they expect a $53 million shortfall with no additional aid due to the cost of housing migrants.
“We’re in May and we haven’t received any funding from FEMA yet,” Chicago budget director Susie Park recently told the city council, according to the Chicago Sun Times. ‘The need is great. Many applications are coming in. New York is probably asking for $1 billion. There is a lot of need.’
Brianyerlis Carreno 10, from Venezuela, holds her 8-month-old brother Mateo Vargas outside the Chicago Police 12th District station, where video showed migrants living in the hallway
Chicago officials predict a budget deficit of $53 million due to the cost of housing migrants
More than 8,000 migrants have arrived in Chicago since bus programs began in August
Like Chicago, New York City has seen thousands of migrants arrive every day. The city has opened more than 100 centers to house migrants, including schools and closed hotels.
This week, New York Mayor Eric Adams, also a Democrat, proposed sending migrants to more cities to ease the burden of major metropolitan areas.
“We have 108,000 cities, towns, cities,” he said. “If everyone takes a small part of that, and if it’s coordinated at the border to make sure those who come here legally to this country are actually moved across the country, it won’t be a burden to one city.’
Adams also called on the Biden administration to provide additional funding to cities taking in tens of thousands of illegal migrants.