Mayor Johnson will delay enforcing migrant shelter evictions policy, acknowledges pause on opening new sites

CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson will delay enforcing his 60-day migrant shelter limit policy for the first group of asylum-seekers due to leave the system next week, his administration announced Friday as heavy snowfall and low wind chills pummeled the city.

The group of about 50 migrant shelter residents who have been in the system since 2022 and had been required to leave by Tuesday will now get to stay through “at least” Jan. 22, said Brandie Knazze, commissioner of the Department of Family and Support Services.

The same goes for another 600 residents who entered the shelter system after the 60-day limit was instituted in November and were supposed to leave between Tuesday and Jan. 21.

“To be clear, we’re not kicking new arrivals out in the cold this winter,” the mayor said at a news conference at the city’s emergency communications headquarters. “Our mission is to continue to live up to our values. As we welcome new arrivals, we will continue to meet this challenge.”

The announcement comes as the city braced for its harshest winter storm yet this season, which had previously seen bursts of snowfall and freezing temperatures here and there but stayed relatively mild. Early next week will be rougher, with wind chills that could reach minus 20 degrees, weather officials said.

The threat of more extreme Chicago winter weather will pose one of the mayor’s biggest challenges in the near future as the city continues grappling with how to care for its asylum-seekers, the first of whom were bussed north by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in August 2022 as part of his bid to punish liberal cities who support open immigration policies. Since then, the total number of migrants who have arrived in Chicago has surpassed 34,000 and continues growing by the day.

The city-run shelter system has been at capacity for months, with 28 buildings currently housing 14,600 migrants. Yet because of fiscal concerns, the prospect of more sites opening in the near future appears dim, with Johnson confirming Friday that there has been a pause in standing up additional shelters since mid-December.

The state did open a long-discussed shelter at a former CVS store in the Little Village neighborhood on Wednesday, intended to house more than 200 people.

Johnson did not say Friday how long the city’s pause on opening new shelters will be, or guarantee the resources are there to keep operating its current roster of 28 shelters for the rest of this year, absent further federal and state assistance. His earlier plan to open winterized tent encampments for incoming migrants remains on the back-burner too, he said.

In 2023, Chicago spent about $148.6 million paying for migrant services, per the city’s expenditures dashboard, down from earlier projections that pinned the costs at more than $300 million. This year, Chicago budgeted $150 million, and Johnson said his administration will “work hard to stay within the confines of that budget and continue to meet the needs of this ongoing, evolving crisis.”

The administration had sought to alleviate the strain by issuing 60-day shelter limit notices starting in November while also clearing out more than 3,300 migrants camped at Chicago police stations by mid-December. However, the harsh winter and ongoing lack of shelter beds are complicating that goal as some asylum-seekers are now sleeping inside heated buses at the “landing zone” for incoming new arrivals instead. More than 500 migrants were waiting at that site on Monday, but that number has since dipped to about 140 as of Friday.

Some of those 140 new arrivals who spoke with the Tribune on Friday expressed shock at the biting cold, a stark contrast to the tropical climate of their home country of Venezuela, from where most of Chicago’s asylum-seekers hail.

Yorbelis Suarez, 22, shivered outside in a black parka as she recounted the past four nights of sleeping inside a CTA bus at the landing zone.

“It was horrible last night. The wind and the snow hitting the walls of the bus. And it continues to be horrible,” the native of northern Venezuela said.

Johnson acknowledged the situation at the landing zone was concerning and noted that there are 10 warming buses on the lot Friday, with preparations for additional vehicles in place.

“It’s certainly unacceptable for the governor (of Texas) to continue just sending people to the city of Chicago, but we’re meeting the moment,” Johnson said in response to whether poor conditions at the landing zone are acceptable. “No, it was never designed to be a shelter. That’s why we’re working very hard to get people in the temporary shelters.”

While the cold weather persists, migrants will have access to blankets, winter clothes, immigration services, meals, medical care and hygiene resources at the landing zone, Johnson added. Chi-Care, a local nonprofit, has provided 4,000 free meals there in the past two weeks via “private funding” secured by Johnson’s team, he added. Meanwhile, city officials will be transporting migrants to Chicago Park District facilities for showers, while public health department employees will work with volunteers to provide mobile medical care.

On the state side, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker sent a letter to Abbott on Friday imploring the Republican to stop sending migrants to Chicago while it is in the grips of harsh winter weather, especially “without coats, without shoes to protect them from the snow.”

While he admonished the Texas governor for “callousness” that he said threatens the lives of asylum-seekers, Pritzker also struck a more desperate tone than before, writing: “I plead with you for mercy for the thousands of people who are powerless to speak for themselves. Please, while winter is threatening vulnerable people’s lives, suspend your transports and do not send more people to our state. We are asking you to help prevent additional deaths.”

Abbott’s office did not immediately respond Friday to a request for comment on the letter. But with Chicago selected as the site of the 2024 Democratic National Convention this summer, local leaders expect the national spotlight to entice Texas and other Republican-controlled states along the U.S. border to ramp up the pace of buses and planes further still.

Johnson also revealed he had a fruitful call with White House officials Thursday night on “creative ways” to add relief for Chicago. At the same time, the mayor continued to knock the federal government for not heeding his calls for more aid, saying Congress is “paralyzed.”

“I just want to make sure everybody understands the decision ... police stations, or the floors of buses,” Johnson said about the evolving challenge of taking in more migrants than shelter space allows. “That chaos is being caused by the governor of Texas. He has put the entire country in that situation. Look, there are no easy decisions in our office.”

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