West Town residents sue Chicago over possible migrant shelter in industrial building
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Two residents in West Town are suing Chicago over plans to house migrants in their neighborhood.
The lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court claims the city plans to house as many as 200 migrants at an industrial building near Western and Grand avenues by Nov. 1, and is wrongfully using the mayor's emergency powers to waive zoning laws to move ahead with the plan.
The suit also claims the migrants could pose safety and health risks to the neighborhood.
As of Thursday, more than 19,000 asylum seekers have arrived in Chicago since August 2022. More than 3,200 of those migrants were living in police stations or at O'Hare International Airport while waiting for a spot in city-run shelters for asylum seekers.
The city's plans to open shelters in various neighborhoods have frequently met with resistance from some neighbors.
Last week, a group of protesters accosted Ald. Julia Ramirez (12th) and one of her aides after she showed up to speak to people attending a rally opposing the city's plans to build a tent camp in Brighton Park. Police said protesters "battered" Ramirez and her staffer, and Mayor Brandon Johnson denounced the attack as "unconscionable."
Ramirez has said Johnson did not consult her about the plans for a migrant tent camp in her ward, and has demanded more transparency from City Hall, but has also said she wants the Brighton Park to "be a welcoming community" to asylum seekers, and not to "buy into the fearmongering and false information being spread by right-wing, anti-immigrant voices who wish to divide our city."