Some West Loop residents apprehensive about new migrant shelters; others already volunteering to help

West Loop residents at a community meeting Monday night voiced public safety concerns and irritation about the amount of notice they’d received regarding a pair of migrant shelters opening in their area. Others said they were ready to help the new arrivals.

One of the shelters, located at the former Cook County Adult Probation facility on the 1600 block of West Walnut Street, began housing migrant families Friday, city officials said. A shelter on the 300 block of North Ogden Avenue will open later this month, city officials said.

Monday’s gathering in the Union Park gymnasium in the West Loop was the most recent in a string of community meetings to inform residents about soon-to-open migrant shelters across Chicago as the city scrambles to house an increasing number of asylum-seekers arriving from border states. Currently, more than 2,000 migrants are sleeping on the floors of police stations and the city’s airports.

Some meetings have been contentious, with residents expressing fears that new arrivals will pose a threat to public safety in their neighborhoods. But some neighbors have used their time in front of public officials to inquire about ways to aid migrants.

West Loop residents asked city officials how long migrants would stay in the shelters, how the city would address waste generated at the sites, enforce noise ordinances and curfews at the shelters, deal with migrants who break laws, and balance city resources for other populations in need.

Some were unhappy about the influx of new arrivals: One resident asked if there was a way to roll back Chicago’s status as a sanctuary city. Others said they were worried about logistics and their quality of life.

Jake Setlak, 48, was frustrated about the lack of advance warning from the city about the plans to open the shelters.

“We have always gotten 48 hours notice for street cleaning and we have gotten no notice whatsoever from the city about what’s going on,” he said, adding he was concerned about loitering and his driveway being blocked by activity at the shelter on Walnut Street.

Christina Pacione-Zayas, first deputy chief of staff to Mayor Brandon Johnson, apologized to Setlak for the short notice.

“I wish we got that notice from Texas (about incoming migrants),” she said. She went on to warn that the city is expecting more buses and planes of migrants to arrive ahead of next year’s Democratic National Convention and that the challenge of administering to asylum-seekers is the “new reality” for Chicago.

Julie Fitzgerald, who owns a catering company next door to the Walnut Street shelter, said she was already seeing disruptions to her business and asked how the city would enforce its rules on migrants staying at the shelter.

Ald. Walter Burnett, 27th, said his office would make sure local business owners like Fitzgerald were able to operate smoothly alongside the new neighbors.

“We’ll work with you to try to make sure that they respect you over there,” he said.

Fitzgerald was one of a number of attendees to ask how the city would handle migrants who broke shelter rules or acted violently.

Department of Family Support Services representative Danny Castaneda said migrants go through an orientation that includes expectations around behavior. A “two strike” system gives those who break the rules an opportunity to change their behavior before being transferred to a different shelter, he said.

Beth Giltmier, commander of the 12th district, said those who commit crimes are “held to the legal standard” and reminded residents that they should call 911 if they see any illegal activity.

Castaneda added that most of the migrants who are living in the shelters are “exactly where we expected them to be.”

“They’re here to live their lives, to take advantage of the resources that are available so that they can care for themselves and their families,” he said.

A handful of residents told city representatives they were ready to assist asylum-seekers and called on their neighbors to join volunteer efforts already underway.

“I’m here to see what I can do to help,” Mary Beth Hughes, 68, said. “We are here to solve a problem, not to come (complain) about other issues and how it affects us.”

Becky Keeler, 46, said she’s been volunteering with migrants at the 12th District Police station since May and invited anybody who wanted to get involved to speak with her after the meeting.

Pacione-Zayas said the city has opened 16 shelters since the middle of May. There are still about 2,200 people waiting to be moved from emergency accommodations like police stations and airports into a shelter, she said.

The figure underscores the city’s scramble to house asylum-seekers being sent to Chicago from the southern border. Chicago’s deputy mayor for immigrant and refugee rights is currently meeting with federal officials in Washington, D.C., about expediting work authorization for new arrivals, Pacione-Zayas said.

Johnson recently joined state leaders and members of the Illinois congressional delegation to call on the federal government to speed up processing for asylum-seekers’ work permits and open new channels to aid the response to arriving migrants. He cautioned that Chicago’s capacity to welcome asylum-seekers is limited.

Johnson most recently floated the idea of transferring migrants to tent encampments to relieve pressure on police stations and airports, though there are few specifics attached to the plan so far.

“We’ve identified multiple locations around the city that can be suitable to treat the families of individuals, who by law are seeking asylum constitutionally, legally, to have a place that recognizes their dignity,” he said.

Johnson also warned that “every level of government” would feel the strain of responding to the humanitarian crisis.

“Sacrifices that will be required in this moment will be necessary from all of us,” he said at an unrelated news conference earlier this month.

The price tag for assisting migrants is about $150 million more than the $51 million that former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration had earmarked.