“Its just not right,” Galewood resident Angelique Gholsten said as she watched her children play in Amundsen Park, knowing that in the coming days, the park's field house will likely be turned into a migrant shelter.
“I wish they would have involved the community with an ask...at least said something,” she said. “The answer would be ‘no,” but they just made a rush decision.”
Gholsten was among the dozens who gathered at the park on Monday to protest the city’s decision to transform the field house into a shelter for migrants, which could house as many as 200 asylum-seekers.
“Bringing them into our community right now, it could be dangerous. We don’t know who they are,” said Howard Ray, who also lives in the Galewood neighborhood. “We don’t know if they are terrorists. We don’t know if they are criminals."
Glenda Johnson, of the Amundsen Park Advisory Council, said it's not right to take something from one group and give it to another without asking.
Still, the migrant crisis continues to grow.
As of Oct. 9, Chicago's Office of Emergency Management and Communications said that the city had received more than 18,000 new arrivals since the city began accepting asylum-seekers more than a year ago. Another five buses of migrants were expected on Monday.
Local
So far, OEMC said the city has housed 10,807 in city shelters, but more another 3,507 await placement. Of those, 2,783 asylum-seekers are still in police districts and 724 are at O’Hare Airport.
Ald. Michael Rodriguez, of the city's 22nd Ward, said he understands the concerns communities like Galewood, which is already underserved, have with taking in migrants.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter here.
“We are a welcoming city," he said. “We believe in investing in our immigrant brothers and sisters from wherever they come.”
Rodriguez warned Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has been sending busloads of migrants to the city, to stop playing political games and start working with Chicago.
But residents around Amundsen Park said they are not going to sit idly by and let Chicago take over the park, which is currently used by children and seniors.
Stephanie Jackson-Rowe said she is planning to seek an injunction to stop the city from moving to the field house. Resident have been told buses could bring migrants to the facility as soon as Wednesday.
