A year into Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson's response to migrant crisis, a look at what's next
CHICAGO (CBS) – Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has been criticized for his response to the migrant crisis. The mission has cost millions of dollars and caused division in the City Council over whether or not the city should remain a sanctuary city.
But it appears Chicago's migrant crisis won't be over anytime soon.
When Johnson became mayor of Chicago one year ago, he inherited a city already experiencing an influx of migrants. Just a few days before he was sworn in, his predecessor, former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, had declared a state of emergency.
"Sadly, we don't expect the buses to stop arriving," Lightfoot said in May of 2023.
She was right. Just before Johnson took office, there were only about 8,000 migrants in seven city shelters. By January of 2024, there were nearly 15,000.
The city had gone from operating seven shelters in the Lightfoot administration to 28.
"As the needs shifted in terms of the number of people arriving, I think that's what we've tried to do with the shelter system," said Beatriz Ponce de Leon, the city's first deputy mayor for immigrant, migrant and refugee rights.
Reporter: "Is the city still on track to have enough money to get us to the end of the year?"
Ponce de Leon: "Yes. We have a plan for the end of the year."
During Johnson's first year in office, migrants flooded Chicago's police stations. It was a temporary solution that began under Lightfoot but exploded during Johnson's first few months in office.
On Dec. 16, the city said all migrants at police stations had been moved out.
"We did have a moment where there were 4,000 people in our police district stations," Ponce de Leon said.
There was a failed plan to house migrants in a tent base camp in Brighton Park that was stopped by the state after reports of toxic soil on the property.
Reporter: "Originally, we reported the city had signed a lease that was $91,400 a month. At last check, they were still negotiating that lease. Are you still negotiating that lease?"
Ponce de Leon: "The city is still working on that negotiation."
Then, officials faced a measles outbreak among migrants at the city's largest shelter on Halsted. All migrants in the shelter were then required to be vaccinated.
Reporter: "Is that outbreak under control?"
Ponce de Leon: "Yes 100%."
Now, city shelters that were once full are closing as buses of asylum seekers are expected to head to Chicago during the Democratic National Convention. Some 16 shelters remain open with almost 8,000 people living there.
So how will the city handle the additional migrants expected to come during the DNC in August?
"We would be able to open up shelters," Ponce de Leon said. "We're calling them 'just-in-time' shelters. We already have the infrastructure for it."
The city's Wadsworth shelter on the South Side is one of the spaces that might be reused during the DNC. After the DNC, the plan is to repurpose the infrastructure that the city created in response to the migrant crisis into an overall homeless response mission, but those details are still being ironed out.
