But the uptick has begun sooner than Chicago officials expected, and they fear that bussing from Texas could further overwhelm them.
cities already were bracing for thousands of new arrivals when a rule that denies asylum on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19 expires May 11. “Make no mistake, we are in a surge and things have yet to peak.” “Our system is over capacity,” Brandie Knazze, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services told city officials Friday. But toward the end of April, it grew to between 75 to 150 people per day. The number of new arrivals slowed this winter to about 10 people per day. Some came on busses mobilized by border states others bought their own flights or got one subsidized by aid groups. More than 8,000 migrants have come into Chicago since August, according to city officials. Texas’ Republican governor this week vowed to resume a program bussing new arrivals to Chicago and other cities. When border crossings increased last summer, Republican governors of border states bussed migrants to cities led by Democrats including Chicago, New York City and Denver, arguing that their own cities were overwhelmed. They’re depending on donors for food, medicine and clothing. Migrants awaiting beds in city-run shelters are sleeping on floors in police stations and in airports surrounded by suitcases.
But a tenfold increase in recent days has taxed resources. cities already struggling to shelter thousands of migrants are calling for federal help and an end to Republican political gamesmanship over immigration, concerned that an expected increase in the number of people entering the country when pandemic-era asylum restrictions end on the U.S.-Mexico border May 11 will further strain their budgets and resources.Ĭhicago has long pledged to welcome migrants.
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