When the first cold blasts hit Chicago, dozens of immigrant families without a place to live were moved from the city’s snowy streets to the basement of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in a nearby suburb.
The last-minute temporary solution, implemented around 1 a.m. Wednesday and coordinated by volunteers and suburban officials, came at a time when Chicago and other cities have struggled to house the growing population of asylum seekers before the arrival of winter.
Mayor Brandon Johnson has proposed installing winterized tents, like in New York, and more shelters to house migrants sleeping in police stations, airports and streets. But volunteers, churches and some councilors say the response is too slow and ineffective.
“Goodwill and charities cannot solve systemic problems,” said Annie Gomberg, who is part of a network of volunteers that coordinates the delivery of food and clothing to police stations. “This is a lack of infrastructure and planning.”
Similar problems could occur as winter weather begins to hit New York, which is struggling to house a growing migrant population, and Denver, which during a recent freeze was forced to relax its rules around how long migrants may be in shelters.
More than 20,000 migrants have arrived in Chicago since last year, most of them after being bused by Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
More than 3,000 migrants are living inside airports and police barracks as they wait to be placed in shelters, including park district lodges, although some have moved to tents on adjoining streets and vacant lots due to overcrowding. The ultimate goal, according to authorities, is to obtain permanent and independent housing.
Volunteer organizations, which have provided most of the food and clothing, point out that they now also give recommendations for surviving the winter. Wearing multiple layers of clothing is a new concept for many migrants who are accustomed to warmer climates. Temperatures dropped to about 0 degrees Celsius (30 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday.
Many of the migrants are from Venezuela, where the political, economic and social crisis has plunged millions of people into poverty. At least 7.3 million people have left the South American nation, many of them putting their lives in danger by making the dangerous journey on foot to the United States.
The donated tents are covered with cardboard, blankets and tarps to protect them from the cold.
Venezuelan Gleicy Martínez, 27, has lived for three weeks in a tent located outside a Chicago police station with her two children, including a 9-year-old boy who is blind.
They rarely leave the store because of the cold. When the storm hit Tuesday, they entered the police headquarters, but it was full. They walked to a nearby department store to warm up a bit.
City officials noted that the arrival of migrants is a legacy problem they are trying to address.
Johnson’s government has opened more than a dozen shelters since taking office in May. City officials have looked for sites to put up tents to weather the winter, but there are few details on the matter. Johnson believes Chicago will spend approximately $255 million on the migrant crisis during 2023.
Johnson told reporters Wednesday that his goal remained to place migrants in shelters before winter.
