Brandon Johnson’s team started evicting many migrant families out of Chicago city shelters this week, right after the school year ended at Chicago Public Schools. This includes families with children who were in school.
This is part of a larger effort to reduce the strain on city and state shelters, which began with moving mostly single men and women out. Now, they’re telling whole families they need to leave too.
Experts say this could harm the children’s stability. For many migrant kids, school was a constant in their lives after months of travel to the U.S.
Alyssa Phillips, from the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, said this eviction process is very hard on them.
Since August 2022, over 43,000 migrants, mostly from Venezuela, have come to Chicago. They’re fleeing economic and political troubles back home. Chicago has spent about $150 million on helping these migrants with shelter and food.
Johnson’s administration set a 60-day limit for staying in city shelters in mid-March, with some exceptions for families. Originally, these families were going to be evicted during the school year, but advocates managed to delay this.
Seeking Solutions: Efforts to Provide Permanent Housing for Displaced Migrant Families
Evictions started the Monday right after the last school day. About 40 people are expected to leave shelters within a week. Johnson, a former teacher, hopes to help these families find permanent homes.
Once evicted, migrant families are sent to a temporary area where they can sleep on buses while they try to get back into the shelter system.
Many are unsure about this process and whether they’ll find shelter again. As of now, over half of those evicted have managed to get back into the shelter system.
Local volunteers have noticed several families leaving shelters this week. City officials insist on giving exit dates to push migrants toward independent living.
However, those still in shelters say they’re not getting much help finding housing or other resources.
Virginia de Jesus and her son, newly arrived at a shelter, haven’t received any support yet. She’s unsure how she’ll manage to find a home in just 60 days.
Chicago is facing record homelessness rates, and officials are considering combining the regular and migrant shelter systems, which would help but also pose challenges like needing translation services.
School support is critical, especially since many migrant children are in sensitive stages of development and could fall behind. Chicago Public Schools must provide support and transportation for these students to continue at their current schools.
Despite the ongoing struggles, advocates hope to keep migrant children in their schools and connect them to summer programs, although communicating with migrants staying temporarily on buses is proving difficult.
