Pritzker Says Work To Begin On 2 Chicago Migrant Shelters

CHICAGO — Construction on two housing sites for asylum-seekers is set to begin this week in Chicago as state officials hope to have shelters built for migrants before the winter months begin, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced on Monday.

The governor and the Illinois Department of Human Services said in a news release that construction will begin on a base camp in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood and at a brick-and-mortar housing site in Little Village. The state has devoted $65 million to the sites, the governor’s office previously announced. Both sites will house a total of 2,200 migrants and will operate as part of the city’s existing shelter system.

The Brighton Park project begins despite concerns from local residents, who have expressed opposition over having asylum seekers being housed in their neighborhood. In a statement released on Saturday. Ald. Julia Ramirez said that construction of the Brighton Park project would begin Monday despite her concerns over environmental concerns.

She said that despite her opposition, she was informed by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office that construction would begin on Monday.

“Let me be clear: I am opposed to the construction of this site, especially as the full environmental impact study results have not been shared with my office or the community,” Ramirez wrote in a letter to residents that was posted on social media. “We have been made aware that toxic metals are present in the soil and although remediation has been done, after a history of bad communication and lack of transparency from the city, this is not enough to ensure the safety and health of the new arrivals expected to live on this site.”

On Monday, Pritzker’s office announced that the project to build and operate the shelters is being funded by the governor’s recently announced $160 million investmentto improve the asylum seeker pipeline as well as the $478 million in state funding that has been provided or committed to the asylum seeker response over state fiscal year 2023 and 2024, Pritzker said in a news release.

In partnership with the City of Chicago, available beds will be prioritized for families and individuals with disabilities who are currently sleeping outdoors, at police stations, and at O'Hare Airport, the release said. While construction on both locations will begin this week, asylum seekers will not move into the Brighton Park location until all environmental concerns have been addressed.

Ronnie Reese, the press spokesman for Johnson, told Patch on Monday that delivery and the staging of construction equipment have been scheduled for Monday, but that construction would begin at a later date. He directed further questions to state officials.

Reese released a statement on Sunday that the city had conducted environmental studies at the site and had investigated “pre-existing” conditions to determine any environmental impact. He said that common mitigation strategies are ongoing and anticipated for completion by the end of this week, weather permitting,” the Chicago Tribune reported.

Pending the environmental studies, the shelter sites are expected to open and begin housing asylum seekers as early as mid-December, the governor’s office said.

"Asylum seekers have traveled thousands of miles and entered this country legally in search of a better life, and we cannot allow them to be met with sub-freezing temperatures and inadequate shelter," Pritzker said in a statement released Monday. "These two new shelter sites will provide transitionary housing for more than 2,000 new arrivals as they apply for work permits and strive for independence."