Evictions at Chicago homeless shelters force out migrants

Approximately 1,000 migrants who arrived in Chicago seeking help from the city after illegally crossing the southern border were forced out of taxpayer-funded shelters this month, according to a new report.

As of this week, more than 1,000 migrants residing in city- and state-funded shelters across Chicago have departed the shelters because of the city's recently implemented 60-day limit on housing, according to WBEZ Chicago.

Chicago said in March that it would impose a two-month cap on stays at homeless shelters across the city, where thousands of migrants have lived for many months unable to get work documents and afford actual housing.

While some migrants have been able to seek asylum in the United States since arriving in Chicago and received work permits to get jobs six months after initiating the asylum process, others have not.

Statistics posted online by the city indicate Chicago has received more than 43,000 migrants from Texas since June 2023, when Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) began providing state-funded transportation to alleviate the pressure on his state's infrastructure as thousands of migrants who crossed the border daily were seeking buses and flights to other parts of the country.

Last winter, more than 15,000 migrants were living in Chicago shelters at the height of arrivals. That figure has dropped to 6,300 migrants housed across 17 regional shelters.

Roughly 625 migrants of the 1,000 who were evicted recently have returned to the city's migrant headquarters center to ask for new assistance with housing, according to WBEZ Chicago. Nearly all have been re-admitted into the shelter system.

Last week, the city council's Latino caucus asked Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson to halt the 60-day cap on shelter for migrants.

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"We need to end @ChicagoMayor 60 Day Eviction Policy, which increases homelessness when there are enough beds. Many thanks to the @ChiLatinoCaucus and our colleague @lenihoppenworth for signing on to this letter! We ask other alders, electeds, and groups to join us," the Latino caucus said in a post to X on June 17.

Last November, Illinois offered emergency rent assistance in the form of housing vouchers for migrants to quality for housing outside shelters.