*This article has been translated for better understanding
On Aug. 31, 2022, the first two migrant buses arrived in Chicago from Texas. Since that day, more than 19,000 migrants have arrived in the city. As a result, neighborhoods around Chicago have stepped up to help support the continued arrival of migrants. However, with the high influx of migrants coming in, it has been difficult to find housing for all of them.
“They’re new people coming in every single day to our city,” said Elena Molise, the Director of Education and Community Services at the 46th Ward. “Our shelters are full, so there’s not much that we have available in our ward to offer folks.”
In Uptown, the American Islamic College was converted into a shelter on July 28. At the beginning of August, 560 migrants began calling the shelter home. In mid-August and early September, the number increased to 828. Currently, the shelter provides housing for 1,200 migrants, making it the second largest shelter in the city.
The Chicago Police Department 19th District, which includes the neighborhoods of Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Roscoe Village, Uptown and Ravenswood, also provides shelter for migrants. In fact, all migrants are first diverted to police departments before being placed in a more permanent shelter. Currently, there are over 3,000 new arrivals at police stations across Chicago, according to ABC News.
“In District 19, there’s anywhere from 20 to over 100 people there at a given time,” Molise said. “Those people are constantly rotating in and out.”
Upon arrival, Pablo Nieves and his family were sent to the 19th Police District. It took him 3 months to make the journey from Venezuela to Chicago, and, according to him, crossed 5 countries to have a better life in America.
“When I arrived in Chicago, I stayed in the police station for 6 days until they put us in a shelter,” Nieves said.
Veronica Diaz also stayed at the 19th Police District before moving to the American Islamic College. She’s thankful that she was provided a shelter, especially since she was scared it would take a while.
“We have a roof over our heads. If we didn’t have that, we would be sleeping in the streets,” Diaz said.
The American Islamic College is expected to be used as a shelter through the end of 2023; however, with the high influx of migrants coming in, the situation is expected to change. Also, despite there being efforts to build a few tent cities around the city, Uptown is not expected to participate due to it being dense.
“It’s not something that the mayor’s office talked with us about,” Molise said.
Although there are no plans to build a tent city, Uptown hopes to keep on helping the migrants that are coming in. However, it’s been hard to do so, especially with their shelter almost reaching capacity.
“Thinking about housing options for newly arrived migrants is certainly something that our office deeply cares about, but isn’t something we’ve been able to do,” Molise said.
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