Chicago evicts migrants from shelters
Citing limited resources, the city of Chicago announced it has started to evict migrants based on a 60-day limit policy in a bid to make room for new arrivals.
The city said 34 migrants would be the first group to be evicted on Sunday, but as of Monday, only three were turned away. The other 31 were given temporary extensions.
The 60-day limit policy has been held off because of the cold winter, and it will be applied to healthy adults first, the city said. Some exceptions are applied as pregnant women, people with health issues or in the process of securing a place to live can apply for an extension of another 30 days. Families with children in school can stay until June, when schools break for holiday.
Around 11,000 migrants are housed in 23 shelters throughout Chicago, The New York Times reported. The city has received more than 37,000 migrants since August 2022.
By the end of this month, 250 migrants will be evicted, Chicago officials said, and by the end of next month more than 2,000. The city anticipates that more than 2,000 new migrants could stay in shelters through next month.
“I don’t believe the city should be in the business of evicting people,” Andre Vasquez, Chicago’s 40th Ward Alderman, told ABC television. “Especially those that don’t have shelter, don’t have work authorization, don’t have rental assistance.”
On Monday, the Progressive Reform Caucus of 19 members on the Chicago City Council issued a statement urging Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to immediately end the evictions policy.
“It risks contributing to the city’s unhoused population and exacerbating social and racial tension at a time when we need to unite,” it said.
Legal disputes
In recent years, the Democratic and Republican parties have been at odds over migrants crossing over the US-Mexico border. After Democrat Joe Biden became president, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and other Republicans frequently accused his administration of inaction. According to official data, border police registered 176,000 interceptions of migrants coming from Mexico in January.
The battle over a Texas law to arrest migrants who cross the US-Mexico border illegally is one of multiple legal disputes between Texas officials and the Biden administration over how far the state can go to patrol the border and prevent illegal crossings.
On Monday, the Supreme Court continued to block, for now, the Texas plan that would give police broad powers to arrest migrants suspected of illegally entering the US. The court put the law on pause over a lawsuit led by the Justice Department, which argues that Texas is overstepping the federal government’s immigration authority.
The court battle is unfolding as immigration emerges as a key issue in the 2024 presidential race.