Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is scheduled to meet with a group of suburban mayors next week to provide an update on the migrant crisis and the city’s ongoing efforts to house asylum-seekers.
“Whether you agree or disagree with what’s happening on the border, I think we all agree the system is broken and how to fix it,” said Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso.
Mayor Grasso told NBC 5 Chicago that he received an invitation as part of the Executive Board of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus. The mayor said one of his questions to Mayor Johnson will be regarding public safety for everyone.
“All of us are concerned of course, our residents and their safety, and also the migrants safety,” said Grasso. “Especially here we are going into another artic weekend.”
This comes as the city said four more buses were expected to arrive Friday in Chicago, bringing the number of new arrivals to more than 34,000 since August of 2022.
“We’re simply running out of space and the mayor’s team is doubling them up simply because we have nowhere else to put them,” said Ald. Ray Lopez, who represents Chicago’s 15th Ward.
Lopez said the shelter capacity at the Gage Park Field House in his ward has doubled.
“We talked about having roughly 200 or 250 migrant asylum seekers living at the park and we are up to nearly 400 now,” he said.
The alderman said he’s concerned about health and living conditions at the Pilsen shelter where a 5-year-old boy died last December. He said capacity there has more than doubled with nearly 2,500 migrants living under one roof.
“We are putting people in harm’s way and for all the money Mayor Johnson and his team are spending to address the migrant crisis, we should be able to deliver better,” he said.
The mayors’ meeting is scheduled to take place at 4 p.m. on Monday. Several mayors said they plan to attend virtually.
