Despite dozens of immigrants scheduled to be removed from Chicago shelters this weekend, city officials only removed three.
Chicago began enforcing Mayor Brandon Johnson’s 60-day shelter stay rule over the weekend after several delays. The city said 31 immigrants scheduled to be removed from shelters were given extensions. Of this total, 27 received extensions because they were still in the process of applying for public benefits, and four received extensions for pregnancy or disability.
“By encouraging resettlement, while also providing case-specific extensions with a focus on health and safety, we are advancing a pathway to stability and self-sufficiency,” Johnson said, defending his position to remove immigrants.
According to the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications, fewer than 11,000 immigrants are currently in Chicago shelters, and 2,000 are expected to leave by April. Families are not expected to be removed until this summer.
In the middle of a measles outbreak and homelessness in the Windy City, some city aldermen oppose the mayor’s move. Alderman Andre Vasquez wrote a letter, co-signed by 21 aldermen, to Johnson calling on him to reverse the 60-day policy.
“If the 60 Day Eviction Policy is enforced, the majority of new arrivals — who cannot yet secure work or housing — will face involuntary shelter exits, interruption to community integration, and potentially unsheltered homelessness,” Vasquez said. “What we have also now seen after this weekend is that there are public health concerns that could be exacerbated if people who have no rental assistance, no work authorization, and significant language barriers are put out on the street.”
Earlier in March, Chicago began grappling with a measles outbreak, with the current total of those infected rising to eight. The city health commissioner said all eligible immigrants had been vaccinated and that newly arriving migrants would also be vaccinated against measles.
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Johnson still placed the blame for the city’s struggles on Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX).
“I don’t want to have to find some building that’s been vacant and have to clear it out and clean it up and build it up just so people have somewhere to lay their heads,” Johnson said. “You have the governor of Texas that is still determined to create chaos in America, and he has decided to attack Chicago first with his illness.”
