Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s latest plan to potentially house thousands of migrants who have been bussed to the city is facing fresh scrutiny on numerous fronts.
The mayor’s administration is planning to enter into a $29 million contract with Garda World to construct tents for the purposes of sheltering migrants, a decision made without debate in the City Council.
That decision did not sit well even with allies of the mayor, including Ald. Andre Vasquez, who is Johnson’s point person on migrant issues on the City Council.
“I do recognize that an executive branch has the latitude to be agile in a moment of crisis, so I get why some of this stuff moves quickly, but clearly we all have questions,” he said.
Some of those questions surround the company’s role in the crisis. Garda World is not only contracted to build the tents, but has also been responsible for bussing migrants to the city, a conflict that has raised eyebrows, including those of Ald. Ray Lopez.
“I don’t think we know enough about any of this situation, least of all who we are getting in bed with to address the migrant situation,” Lopez said. “Just finding out that we’re paying the same company responsible for shipping them here, to now be in charge of taking care of them, is like having the fireman both set the fire and extinguish it at the same time.”
Questions also arose due to the company’s failure to secure a contract in Denver, which pulled out of the deal due to “concerns (that grew) about the international company’s history of alleged abuses and mistreatment, as well as its lack of experience in sheltering migrants,” according to a statement.
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Cristina Pacione-Zayas, Johnson’s chief of staff, says that Garda World is a “preferred state contractor,” and that they underwent training on operations and procedures in the aftermath of that decision by the city of Denver.
“The state is good with it. We understand what those concerns were and how they were addressed, then we are good to be proceeding as well,” she said.
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According to terms of the contract, Garda will be responsible for providing security, three meals a day, daily child care, van transports to school and doctors’ appointments, and laundry services.
The tents are supposed to be capable of withstanding colder temperatures, maintaining 70-degree temperatures even when the mercury outside is 40 degrees, but Lopez expressed skepticism that the solution will stand up to Chicago’s winters.
“The fact that we’re spending $29 million on a tent city solution that probably won’t even function in subzero weather, Chicago style, is just amazing to me,” he said.
As of Thursday morning, there are a total of 8,307 migrants in city shelters, with nearly 2,000 awaiting placement.
The city has received more than 14,000 migrants since Aug. 2022, with hundreds of buses arriving in the city from states like Texas and Florida.
