Despite warning of cold temperatures, migrants choose to come to Chicago
CHICAGO (CBS) – As the suburbs continue to take a stand on arriving migrants, Chicago is running out of funds to help them, and space to house them.
As CBS 2's Marybel Gonzalez reported, migrants are still choosing Chicago as their landing spot in the U.S.
Even as temperatures drop in Chicago, the city continues to be a hot spot for new arrivals. CBS 2 spoke with a person running some of the shelters along the southern border about why this could be.
"What we're seeing is that it is fluctuating greatly from day to day," said John Martin.
Before asylum seekers arrive in Chicago, they come border cities like El Paso, Texas where Martin helps run a network of shelters and meets the new arrivals.
"A typical stay for us is typically between two to three days," he said. "We work with them to get them to their destination of choice, which varies."
Martin said migrants have been choosing to go to cities all over the country, but the top destinations continue to be Denver, New York City, and Chicago.
Gonzalez: "We know it's cold here in Chicago, and it's only getting colder. Why do you think people are still choosing Chicago as their destination?"
Martin: "I think the predominate issue is that whether it be, in your case, probably unintentional, is they now have a support network within Chicago, support network meaning others that have preceded them at that point."
That means family and friends who have already arrived in Chicago.
The City of Chicago has received over 26,000 migrants since last August. Mayor Brandon Johnson warned this week that space is running out, and, as CBS 2 learned this week, so is funding.
"Local municipalities are not structured to be able to carry the weight of a crisis like this," Johnson said.
Chicago has used $95 million of pandemic relief funds to foot the bill for migrant expenses. Mayors across the country, including Johnson, are calling on the federal government for help.
In El Paso, Martin and his staff inform migrants about conditions in destinations like Chicago. They've even posted signs at shelters to warn of Chicago's daily overnight temperatures to give migrants a visual of what to expect.
"And then we relay to them, based upon what we've seen in the media, that there may not be shelter or any time of capacity within the community, but again, it's a decision that they make," he said.
Many migrants trying to get to Chicago have been dropped off in surrounding suburbs as the state of Texas has tried to skirt around city rules that limit bus arrivals to certain days and times. West suburban Elmhurst received seven buses of migrants over the past week. The mayor there said all but a handful of the passengers were diverted to Chicago.