Chicago says there are no more migrants camped outside of police stations
CHICAGO (CBS) – The City of Chicago announced a major milestone in its ongoing migrant crisis. As of Saturday morning, the city said there were no longer any asylum seekers camped outside of Chicago police stations.
But as CBS 2's Sara Machi reported, there was still a lot of confusion about where people should go.
The city said around 8 a.m. on Saturday that all of its police stations were clear of migrants, but underlining just how fluid the situation was, around 5 p.m., CBS 2 saw dozens of people come from all directions to the 12th District station.
"I don't know where I'm going," said Yonder Lozada Gomez, who showed CBS 2 paperwork that got him on a Greyhound bus to Chicago just before midnight.
Originally from Venezuela, he left home in September, crossed the border into California, flew across the country to Washington, D.C. before traveling to Chicago. He said he didn't know where he was heading next, but was directed to check in at a police station where a bus would pick him up, and anyone waiting, to take them to a shelter.
Many of the migrants who arrived at the police station on Saturday just arrived in Chicago.
The city said there are nearly 14,000 migrants in 27 active shelters. About 186 people were still waiting for placement at a shelter at O'Hare International Airport.
The city has taken in nearly 26,000 new arrivals since buses began arriving last year. Two more buses arrived just on Friday.
Mayor Brandon Johnson said clearing CPD lobbies has been a priority.
"So, as you know, I inherited this crisis where police districts were established as shelter for families of individuals seeking asylum," Johnson said on Wednesday. "A month ago, we had as many as 4,000."
Organizers on Saturday wouldn't say where they were taking migrants but confirmed they were headed for shelters. They took the asylum seekers' information, looking for families with children onto the first bus. Another bus would come for single adult men.
"I feel strangled," Gomez said. "We've gone through so much. Everyone knows what we've gone through and we get there and ask for shelter just for them to tell us that we need something from the police department so they can receive us at the shelter."
Plans for two tent sites have stalled in recent weeks. Johnson has leaned on a coalition of churches to clear the police district lobbies.
