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'How dare you?': Chicago residents call out Johnson over proposed
migrant housing at fieldhouse
Kasey Chronis
Tue, October 3, 2023 at 3:01 PM PDT·4 min read
1.4k

'How dare you?': Chicago residents call out Johnson over proposed
migrant housing at fieldhouse
CHICAGO - In recent weeks, there has been an influx of migrants arriving
on Chicago’s doorstep, and city officials warn that they could start
receiving up to 25 buses from the Texas border each day.

As the situation unfolds, tensions are escalating across the city – with
community members grappling with the complexities of the migrant crisis.

On Tuesday afternoon, a protest took place outside the Amundsen Park
Fieldhouse in the city’s Galewood neighborhood, where residents voiced
their concerns about a plan to transform the space into a migrant shelter.

"We ain’t having that. No! You want to tell us what to do in our park?
You cannot do that! We pay our money," said Linda Johnson, community member.

Critics argue that turning the site into a migrant sanctuary will
disrupt crucial park programming and youth activities for residents –
programs that took years to build.

"You want to take the little scraps of resources we have and put us at
the bottom of the barrel? That’s not fair!" one woman said. "A lot of
these young boys, they don’t have fathers so a lot of these coaches,
they are their fathers. They spend part of their weekend here along with
during the week, that keeps them in a safe place, it gives them
mentorship, it shows them discipline."

A community meeting held inside the fieldhouse Tuesday evening was
standing room only and quickly became contentious and rowdy.

Within seconds of city officials taking the floor, community members in
attendance – anxious to speak their minds – took center stage.

Still unclear when approximately 200 migrants might be moving into the
facility, 29th Ward Alderman Chris Taliaferro, who says he is "strongly
opposed" to the plan, tried to settle tensions.

Still, residents became heated – calling for more transparency from City
Hall.

"What I want to say is, Mayor Brandon Johnson, we are disappointed in
you. This is the community that supported you, how dare you," said Cata
Truss, community member.

FOX 32 Chicago reached out to Mayor Johnson’s office for his response to
the community's reaction but did not immediately hear back.

Simultaneously, migrant families were scheduled to move into a new,
temporary city-run shelter in Pilsen on Tuesday, located in the 2200
block of South Halsted.

An intense community meeting took place Monday, where Pilsen residents
expressed differing opinions on whether the site should serve as a shelter.

Meanwhile, 2nd Ward Alderman Brian Hopkins is calling for the closure of
the migrant shelter located at the Inn of Chicago downtown. Positioned
at the corner of Ohio Street and Saint Clair Street – just steps away
from the Magnificent Mile – Hopkins says it has led to a series of
troubling issues in the neighborhood.

"This year alone, we've had over 300 calls for that address for all
sorts of things like disturbances, fighting, assault and battery,
narcotics, and the Chicago Police Department has declared that area a
narcotics hot zone due to the number of illegal narcotics sales," said
Hopkins. "Some people are trafficking in drugs there, we're not saying
everyone who does that is a migrant, that would be an unfair
generalization, certainly some are, but that area has really been a
magnet for criminal activity."

At the same time, Governor J.B. Pritzker is urging the Biden
administration to address the migrant crisis. He penned a letter to the
president on Monday, emphasizing that the influx of migrants in Illinois
has become "untenable."

Illinois has already allocated $330 million to tackle the migrant
crisis, and Pritzker believes that additional resources can be provided
by the White House and Congress to assist blue states targeted by Texas
Governor Greg Abbott's bussing campaign.

The governor is also calling for a focus on long-term solutions instead
of political maneuvering.

"You don't hear him telling Republicans that they need to go to work in
Washington on behalf of reform. Instead, he is just sending busloads
across the country and causing chaos really," Pritzker said.

Pritzker says he's been in regular discussions with the Biden
administration since the first bus arrived in Chicago in August 2022,
seeking effective ways to address the ongoing challenges posed by the
migrant crisis.

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