(The Center Square) – As the weather gets colder, Chicago has begun moving some migrant arrivals out of police stations with the help of community groups and churches.
The state has seen more than 24,000 border crossers arrive over the past 15 months, which has led to the city and state spending more taxpayer dollars for shelters.
A significant number of arrivals are being housed in tents inside and outside police stations.
On Tuesday, Mayor Brandon Johnson announced the “Chicago Unity Initiative” to call on community groups and churches to provide more housing assistance.
“This mission continues, but as winter fast approaches, our need for greater collaboration and coordination grows,” Johnson said. “That’s why we are mobilizing the Chicago faith community and our partners in the philanthropic community to meet this moment.”
The plan had been to utilize warming buses for the migrants during the winter months and included a $29 million taxpayer-funded contract for military-grade tent sites. Now, 17 churches will be utilized in this plan and each site is expected to hold about 20 arrivals.
“This will be a multilayered approach that seeks to bring Chicago together, including an interfaith partnership dedicated to helping us move migrants out of police stations and onto the path of resettlement and self sufficiency,” Johnson said.
According to reports, Chicago received 25 more buses full of non-citizen arrivals seeking shelter in the city over the weekend. Johnson said caring for these arrivals is what Chicago is about.
“This is the soul of Chicago that I have been speaking of from my first day in office,” Johnson said. “A diverse, intergenerational, interracial, interfaith coalition of communities coming together to help those in need. That is who we are, and that is who we will always remain.”
The city and the state have already utilized taxpayer dollars for sheltering the arrivals. Recently announced state funding breaks down to $30 million for a large intake center, $65 million to help Chicago launch a winterized shelter site and $65 million in increased funding to expand wraparound services for the non-citizens.
