Chicago taxpayers rail against $65M shelters for homeless migrants
By JAMES REINL FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 11:41 EST, 1 December 2023 | UPDATED: 11:41 EST, 1 December 2023
Chicagoans are turning on Mayor Brandon Johnson's 'open doors' policy to migrants, staging daily protests against expensive new government-run tent shelters for the homeless newcomers. Hundreds of locals attended a community meeting this week, and dozens more have staged protests near a construction site where one of two new shelters is being built in Chicago 's Brighton Park neighborhood. The shelters, funded by the state of Illinois , are set to open within weeks.
They will house up to 2,200 asylum seekers and cost $65 million to build and accommodate some of those migrants sleeping on floors or in tents outside city police stations. Community members in Brighton Park are suing the city to try to halt construction. They say it will lead to overcrowding, is being built on dangerous, contaminated land, and violates Chicago zoning laws. Longtime resident Ricardo Palacios told Reuters that taxpayers like him should not have to foot the bill for new arrivals, many of whom have fled insecurity and abysmal government in Venezuela. 'These people are just getting off the bus and everything's given to them,' said Palacios. 'As a taxpayer, I don't think that's right.'
They will house up to 2,200 asylum seekers and cost $65 million to build and accommodate some of those migrants sleeping on floors or in tents outside city police stations. Community members in Brighton Park are suing the city to try to halt construction. They say it will lead to overcrowding, is being built on dangerous, contaminated land, and violates Chicago zoning laws. Longtime resident Ricardo Palacios told Reuters that taxpayers like him should not have to foot the bill for new arrivals, many of whom have fled insecurity and abysmal government in Venezuela. 'These people are just getting off the bus and everything's given to them,' said Palacios. 'As a taxpayer, I don't think that's right.'
The city of 2.6 million people has been among the worst-affected by a surge of asylum seekers and illegal entries at the southern border since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021. Hundreds of migrants are still sleeping on floors or in tents outside city police stations, which have been used to accommodate the surge. Some who remained this week huddled near tents wearing parkas, knit hats and even ski goggles to cope with the falling snow and cold weather, which has fallen to the low 40s in recent days.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/galleries/article-12815187/Chicago-taxpayers-rail-against-65M-shelters-homeless-migrants.html
