Protesters scuffle with police ahead of emotional community meeting over tent city for migrants in Brighton Park

Tension on the Southwest Side escalated Tuesday over Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan to erect winterized tents to house migrants in Brighton Park beginning with an early-morning scuffle between police and protesters and ending with a passionate community meeting Tuesday night that saw hundreds turn out.

A line of residents snaked down the sidewalk at Kelly College Preparatory High School for the meeting to discuss a plan to build a migrant base camp on a vacant parking lot at 38th Street and California Avenue. The auditorium quickly filled to capacity, and many were left outside.

“Let them in! Let them in!” shouted residents, as city officials tried to calmly lay out their plan to house thousands of migrants in the encampment. Residents could be heard yelling their concerns from outside.

For the past week, protesters said they have been gathering daily, 24 hours a day, with signs in hand demanding the city halt the plan to turn the site into a tent city that would house about 2,000 migrants. City workers have been assessing the viability of the site, which has been unused since 2020 and records indicate is owned by Sanchez Paving Co., a private entity.

An employee at the company who answered the phone Tuesday told the Tribune she could not comment.

At the meeting, Beatriz Ponce de Leon, the city’s deputy mayor of immigrant, migrant and refugee rights, expressed her concern about migrants who have come to Chicago on buses who are not prepared for the winter.

“This is not a Chicago issue. This is a national issue,” she said, to roaring applause from those in the room.

Protesters have told the Tribune they are worried that moving migrants into the neighborhood could increase crime and lower property values. They said they also worry about their safety and the safety of the migrants by crowding them into tents amid winter on land that has been mostly used for manufacturing.

The city is still performing environmental assessments, but the lot “appears to be viable,” according to a website with details on the plan.

“The city intends to stand up a base camp if the infrastructure can support it based on the results of the environmental assessments currently underway,” it says. If the site does not meet the criteria “the city will notify the alderman.” There is no set date to finalize the assessment.

In a letter to constituents Sunday, Ald. Julia Ramirez, 12th, said that “the mayor’s administration has been in direct contact with the property owner of the site at 38th & California, without looping in my office.”

Last Thursday, Ramirez, was cornered by a crowd protesting against the proposed encampment and had to be escorted by police to a squad car. Hundreds had attended the protest after noticing that city construction crews were cutting down trees, flattening land and laying down infrastructure earlier this month.

George Cardenas, former alderman of the 12th Ward, said he is dubious of the site’s ability to safely house people given environmental concerns on previous industrial use in the area.

”That site is contaminated, otherwise we would have built houses there a long time ago,” said Cardenas, who now serves on Cook County’s Board of Review.

Jackie Zuniga, a resident of the area, has been organizing neighbors over the past weeks. She said that she’s gathered a collective of people, including translators, to inform the residents of the city’s plan.

“If it hadn’t been for us, our neighbors would have never known,” Zuniga said. “It shouldn’t be the people against the city.”

At the meeting, many of the residents who spoke said they are immigrants themselves. While some expressed a desire to help provide wraparound services and bilingual support, most voiced strong opposition to the mayor’s plan.

Ada Zhu, 33, read a printed script to city officials: ”(This) clearly showed the mayor’s disrespect for our district. You are taking our rights away. This is not right.”

Julie Ganez, 60, who lives a block and a half from the site, said she is not against immigration, but she knows there are other spaces to house migrants.

”Nosotros necesitamos seguridad. Hay que arreglar los problemas que tienen en casa. We need security. We should fix the problems we already have here,” she said in Spanish with the help of a translator.

Alondra Jara, 27, a volunteer at a police station in Bridgeport, spoke on behalf of the migrants she helps.

”We just came here to find work,” she said they told her. “The tents are full. There’s rats. The only thing we want is a work permit. ... Please try to heal and not be so xenophobic.”

Earlier Tuesday, a woman was taken to the hospital with a minor ankle injury after police clashed with protesters who attempted to block the entrance to the site, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

He Zhaoqiu, 58, was among the group of about 20 area residents who were blocking one of the entrances to city workers at around 4:30 a.m. when police arrived and forced the crowd away. Zhaoqiu was taken to St. Anthony Hospital but hours later she was back on the site joined by other protesters.

“It was scary,” Zhaoqiu said, pointing to a video that shows the moment police approached the group and forced them away from the entrance. “We don’t want this here. It is not fair.”

In the video shown to the Tribune, a man was put in handcuffs. He was later released, Zhaoqiu said. Another woman, Chan Beverly, 49, a homeowner in Brighton Park for nearly two decades, was also injured in the altercation and taken to the hospital.

Beverly said she had been awake for four days straight. “I feel really sad,” she said. “We are just trying to protect ourselves, our neighborhoods.”

The Chicago Police Department was not “notified of any incidents and no reports have been filed,” according to CPD spokesperson Kellie Bartoli.

On Sunday, Ramirez released a letter to her constituents that she did not offer the site as a possible location for the tents and that the mayor’s office had not consulted her about it.

In September, Johnson’s administration signed a $29 million contract with GardaWorld Federal Services and its subsidiary Aegis Defense Services to construct “yurt” structures around the city, facing mounting pressure to house thousands of migrants staying at police stations with winter approaching. The contract reveals the structures will have fire extinguishers and portable restrooms with makeshift kitchens nearby but questions remain about their heating capabilities.

A spokesman for Johnson told the Tribune Monday that the city is assessing the site for viability.

“The city of Chicago has been identifying viable sites across the city to construct base camps as an alternative to new arrivals sleeping outdoors, at O’Hare and on the floors of police district stations as winter fast approaches. The site at 38th and California appears viable, and the intention is to construct temporary shelter at this site,” Johnson spokesman Ronnie Reese said in an email. “The city is currently performing work on the site to confirm the underlying infrastructure’s viability before initiating construction. The city will also notify residents of the outcome of this final assessment and share further operations details prior to placing any new arrivals into the facilities.”

More than 19,000 migrants have arrived in Chicago since August 2022. As of Tuesday, close to 12,000 are staying in city shelters, while another 2,500 are awaiting shelter placement at police stations, which have run out of space. As evening temperatures begin to dip into the low 40s, many have been sleeping outside the stations.

An additional 600 migrants are staying at O’Hare International Airport until they can find housing.

Johnson’s first deputy chief of staff Cristina Pacione-Zayas said the site would only house families and children, with the ultimate goal of resettling the migrants. She closed the meeting Tuesday reiterating Chicago’s promise to house and care for thousands of migrants.

”Our city has been sanctuary to many and will continue to be sanctuary to many. We are in a humanitarian crisis,” she said. “We are certainly in unprecedented times.”