Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson told reporters after City Council meeting Wednesday that the city will soon implement a tiered-60 day stay limit for migrants in city shelters.
Johnson also said the new plan would involve more resources to help integrate new arrivals into the community, as well as adding personnel at arrival points who could help send migrants to new locations if they don’t want to stay in Chicago.
According to Johnson, the new approach will involve fining bus companies that might ignore the city’s curfew or unloading rules.
MORE: Chicago defends renewing $40M contract with Favorite Healthcare Staffing to staff migrant shelters
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Although details of the plan were scarce, Johnson said it would include new financial commitments from both Cook County and the state of Illinois.
When pressed by reporters, Johnson denied that the city was “rolling up the welcome mat” by saying “We are a welcoming city. We will always be a sanctuary city.”
Further details are expected to be revealed this week, when the state of Illinois and Cook County are expected to announce additional funding and resources to help address the crisis. One of those announcements is scheduled to come at 10 a.m. Thursday, when Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is expected to announce new state investment services for asylum seekers.
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How many migrants are in Chicago?
The latest census from the city shows that more than 21,000 migrants have arrived over the past year. More than 1,800 people were still awaiting placement and have been staying at airports and Chicago police stations.
With colder weather approaching, the city has been looking for locations to relocate those individuals, but have faced political pressure and protests from residents of numerous wards.
In September, the city inked a controversial $29 million contract with the company GardaWorld to help operate a series of base camps sites.
Johnson on Wednesday also did not provide an answer when pressed about the status of two proposed base camps that would house migrants in tent communities – one located at 115th and Halstead appears to be viable while the city is still assessing a controversial site in Brighton Park at 38th and California.
Where the Brighton Park site stands
NBC 5 Investigates has uncovered new details about environmental testing being done at the Brighton Park site.
The tests could help uncover whether the site is contaminated as the city weighs whether to place people there.
Records obtained by NBC 5 Investigates through a Freedom of Information Act request show the City of Chicago recently hired a company – Terracon Consultants – to conduct and environmental assessment of the property.
Their testing plan calls for testing the groundwater and soil for toxic chemicals and heavy metals – including lead, mercury, silver and zinc among others.
“Our concerns are for the safety of the people who the city wants to put here this is an industrial site. It used to be a freight terminal they used to have a zinc smelter on here,” said Anthony Moser, a member of an environmental group that’s raised questions about the site.
Records provided to NBC 5 Investigates shared not only the testing plan for the site but also photographs of the land, soil and aerial maps showing the site has been used for various industries dating back to at least 1938.
We shared the documents with Dr. Susan Buchanan, an environmental and occupational health professor with the University of Illinois -Chicago. When asked if she people should be placed on the site.
“It definitely gives me pause to think about putting people there. I know that this is a really difficult situation. We need spaces to put up people in the short term. But it does give me pause that this is a potentially contaminated site,” Buchanan said.
When pressed about whether she would look to other sites, she said.
“I would wait for the test results, the soil results to see and I don’t know if zero levels is going to be attainable. So it’s really a balance of risk,” she said.
A spokesman for Mayor Brandon Johnson said that testing is ongoing and that they expect results “soon.” He refused to say if the city has made a lease payment to the owners of the property.
The licensing agreement shows using this land could cost Chicago taxpayers more than $548,000 over the next six months. The city says it can get out of the deal if the land is deemed to be not suitable.
When asked about when the tents could go up, Mayor Johnson did not answer but said on Monday, “… It’s incumbent on my office to be as thorough as possible…”
NBC 5 Investigates has left additional emails with the mayor’s office since Monday asking for a more specific timeline. We are still waiting to hear back.
We also called the company doing the testing, but a spokeswoman there referred our questions back to the city.
