Chicago Latino Caucus Calls Upon the Johnson Administration to End the 60-Day Migrant Exit Policy
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 17, 2024
CHICAGO – On June 10th, the City’s new arrival shelters began to evict families with children from its shelters, in accordance with the Mayor Johnson’s 60-day Limited Stay Policy, which held off on evicting this population en masse until the school year ended. With an uptick in reports of new arrivals sheltering in parks and on the streets, we need answers regarding the ways in which the combined money for fiscal year 2024 from the City, State and County– $230M, $182M, and $70M respectively– are being used.
City Council approved the extra $70M from the reserve fund balance in April of this year on top of the $150M budgeted for FY24 because the Johnson Administration gave its commitment in preventing unnecessary homelessness and displacement of new arrivals. In addition, the City applied on Wednesday for an additional $34.1M of FEMA Shelter and Services Program monies to keep up with operational costs.
The Latino Caucus is disappointed to see the underutilization of the new arrival shelters– only 6,937 beds currently filled of the 15,000 that the three municipalities had committed to operating through the end of 2024. The latest information we have received from the Department of Family Support Services states that as of 6/13/24 the city has 806 single adult male beds available, 206 single adult female beds available, and 3,256 family beds available.
We believe that since the City has the capacity to house new arrivals, it should do so with the budget allocations we agreed upon without subjecting them, especially families with kids, to the humiliating and traumatizing experience of repeated eviction. It is clear that the majority, 57%, of those evicted from shelters are still in desperate need of assistance– of the 970 individuals who have been evicted, 554 have returned to the Landing Zone, awaiting placement back into the shelter system. Evicting people to the streets who have no support or resources does not create “self sufficiency” and is counter to the Mayor’s declared commitment to investing in people.
The members of the Chicago Latino Caucus call upon the Johnson Administration to:
● End it’s 60 day Limited Stay Policy to account for drops in new arrivals and create more humane extension periods
● Begin to track and report the destinations for new arrivals who have been evicted
● Brief the Latino Caucus on the City/State/County migrant mission plan including the DNC/summer surge contingency plan
● Update the New Arrivals Mission Cost Dashboard with projected spending through end of year
This moment requires responsible and principled leadership that centers those who are marginalized and in need of help. Mayor Johnson has shown it in the past, we need him to show it now.
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