Chicago to extend migrant shelter stay limits over concerns about long-term housing, employment

Source: ABC News/AP

January 29, 2024, 6:35 PM


CHICAGO -- Chicago will again extend its 60-day limit on shelter stays for asylum seekers, Mayor Brandon Johnson announced, just days ahead of a deadline that could have evicted nearly 2,000 migrants.

Johnson said Monday the idea is to give people more time to resettle and find work. The policy change adds 30 to 60 more days for roughly 14,000 migrants already living in the city’s 28 shelters, which include warehouses and park district buildings. Chicago has twice delayed enforcement due to weather.

“Our plan for temporary emergency shelter was never meant as a long-term housing solution, but we want to give every person and every single family that has come to our city enough time to process their work authorization, find housing, start a new life in our great city,” Johnson said at a City Hall news conference.

Chicago and other U.S. cities, including New York and Denver, have put shelter limits in place as they struggle to house and care for the growing population of migrants arriving by bus and plane. Mayors have also pleaded for more federal help.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/chicago-extend-migrant-shelter-stay-limits-concerns-long-106778722