Chicago aims to free up shelter space by moving asylum seekers out in coming weeks
CHICAGO (CBS) – The City of Chicago said migrants staying at shelters have 60 days before they have to leave.
CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot had the latest about how the new policy will work. City officials held a virtual meeting to outline three initiatives for the new arrivals coming to Chicago.
City officials held a virtual meeting to outline three initiatives for the new arrivals coming to Chicago.
There will be more personnel to help reunite migrants with family, friends, or sponsors. For many, Chicago isn't their final destination. The effort will help free up space in city shelters for those who plan to stay in the city.
"Nobody came here to be in a congregate shelter or sleeping on a floor in a police station, so we're just trying to do our part to support people through that process or get them connected to other resources outside of Chicago or the state of Illinois," said Cristina Pacione-Zayas, first deputy chief of staff to Mayor Brandon Johnson.
The city is also cracking down on drivers in rogue buses. Those drivers will no longer be allowed to randomly drop off migrants at a location without notice. The bus companies will be cited and fined.
"Rogue buses essentially put individuals seeking asylum in danger, and especially with the winter weather," Pacione-Zayas said. "We can't allow that type of behavior to happen."
A 60-day exit notice for migrants is in place based on the their arrival date at a shelter. The goal is to resettle those coming into Chicago quickly.
"Starting today, any new individual that arrives at a shelter will be given written notice," said Brandie Knazze, the city's commissioner of the Department of Family and Support Services. "Those who need shelter at the end of the 60 days of their shelter date, they'll be instructed to return to the landing zone where they can request a new shelter placement."
The city has helped resettle more than 7,000 people with help from the state and Catholic Charities. Nearly 3,000 have been placed into long-term housing. Those currently in shelters can receive rental assistance, but it will not be available for new arrivals.
"Renal assistance from the Asylum Seeker Emergency Rental Assistance Program will now be three months, plus one-month move-in fee," said Kirstin Chernawsky, of the Illinois Department of Human Services.
Pacione-Zayas said the city is also in the process of enacting a strategy to have all migrants removed from Chicago police stations by the winter.
"We're also wrapping people with services and connections to the types of support that will help them be able to become independent and move out of the shelters," said Beatriz Ponce de Leon, the city's deputy mayor for immigrant, migrant and refugee rights.
The city is working with the state on work authorizations for asylum seekers with the goal of 11,000 having the authorization to work by the end of February.
U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Chicago) said in a statement the city's policy change was "a disappointing consequence of more than three decades of failed immigration policy. She blamed the lack of action by the federal government for the continued crisis.
"It is unacceptable that federal inaction and an inability to move a minimum of $5 billion in supplemental funding forward is creating austerity in our cities, pain for our immigrant communities, and a humanitarian crisis within and beyond our borders," Ramirez said in the statement.
