Chicagoans continue effort to aid migrants amid fear of Title 42 policy change
CHICAGO (CBS) – A Trump-era immigration restriction known as Title 42 was set to expire on Wednesday.
It would have opened the door to thousands more asylum seekers at the southern border, but just on Monday afternoon, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily paused the change. While we wait for more information from the courts, immigration advocates have been preparing for the influx.
CBS 2's Sara Machi had a look Monday on how Chicago is stepping up.
When migrants arrived in Chicago at the end of August, they were in the first wave of many more to come. They were sent on buses from the southern border by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
"These are human beings," said Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. "Moms and dads, young children, elders, who deserve our respect and dignity."
Standing just behind Lightfoot was Karina Ayala-Bermejo, president and CEO of Instituto Del Progreso Latino, who's been working to support new arrivals.
"This is crisis on top of crisis," Ayala-Bermejo said.
She's been making sure they're covering the essentials for the migrants, managing a wish list on Amazon, and raising $77,000 to cover the basics.
And over the weekend, gifts made it to some of the migrant families marking their first Christmas in Chicago.
"The wish list has been really effective in a way that reaches out to individuals who want to be generous, especially during this time," Ayala-Bermejo said.
She added they're waiting for another swell of new arrivals.
"I think the looming deadline has a lot of folks nervous," she said.
When it comes, they'll be ready.
"We know that many of the donations have come from Chicago, but we also know they've come nationally. So it's really neat to be able to see the generosity not be restrained by borders," said Ayala-Bermejo. "Which is really the theme here: If we can think beyond the borders."
On Thursday, in the latest numbers available, the city said it has accepted 3,871 people on buses from the Texas border.
The mayor of El Paso, Texas has estimated the end of Title 42 could bring the number of migrants from 2,400 to as many as 6,000 per day.