Downtown residents expressed reservations Wednesday night about the migrant shelter that’s set to reopen next week in Greektown, but many also wanted to know how they could help asylum seekers who would be staying in the facility.
Lisa Bowling, 59, used her minute at the microphone during the community meeting for just one question: “Where can I go to find out how I can help?”
Bowling told the panel of representatives from the city of Chicago that she wasn’t computer savvy, but that as a retiree, she had time and wanted to use it to assist the migrants who will soon be staying at the Parthenon Guest House in the 300 block of South Halsted Street.
About 200 people attended the meeting at the Merit School of Music to hear how the city would administer the shelter, which Ald. Bill Conway, 34th, said would open Sept. 15.
The Parthenon was used as a migrant shelter from October 2022 through February 2023, according to a statement released from Conway’s office.
The meeting was the latest in a series of community meetings being held in neighborhoods across the city, where residents have pushed back against the city’s plans to house new arrivals in shuttered schools, park district field houses and hotels.
Like their contemporaries in other parts of the city, residents shared questions and concerns related to public safety, public health, how long it would take for migrants to apply for and receive federal work permits and questioned how the city was allocating resources among newly arrived migrants versus other populations that need support, like disabled veterans and victims of gun violence.
They wanted to know what food the new arrivals would eat, where they would spend time during the day, whether they would learn English, where their children would go to school and whether they’d be vaccinated.
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Jamie Brown, 35, wanted to know if migrants would be background checked prior to being placed in a city shelter. She said she has a son in day care next door to the Parthenon and wanted to ensure the area remained “child friendly.”
“I also like to know what the city’s end game plan is,” Brown said to applause from other meeting attendees. “Are we going to continuously open shelters in hopes of work permits (being) eventually awarded?”
Applications for asylum can take years to process, she observed, before adding that she was also concerned about the capacity limits in the building.
Deputy Mayor for Immigrant, Migrant and Refugee Rights Beatriz Ponce de León said she could not guarantee that shelter residents would receive a background check. But she said the vast majority of asylum seekers were not involved in criminal activity: “(They) are doing what they need to be doing, and they are people that we can be comfortable with,” she said.
Deputy police Chief Stephen Chung emphasized that city shelters would have an 11 p.m. curfew In response to other questions about public safety. Beth Giltmier, commander of the 12th police district, said cops would provide security at the new shelter around the clock.
Department of Family Support Services representative Danny Castaneda said new arrivals would be educated about “what we expect in terms of our cultural norms and what we expect in terms of respecting the space in the community.”
Many residents asked how they could assist the city.
Brenda Magnetti, 58, inquired about “the No. 1 action we should take as a good neighbor.”
Dean Maragos asked about ways to establish stronger lines of communication between communities hosting shelters and the city.
Where to house the waves of migrants that have been arriving in Chicago since last year has been a contentious question at times while nearly 1,000 asylum-seekers continue to sleep on floors of Chicago police stations as the city grapples with finding and equipping buildings to become adequate shelters.
Several park facilities, including the Leone Beach Field House in Rogers Park, Brands Park’s field house in Avondale and Piotrowski Park in Little Village, have been turned into makeshift shelters, while shuttered schools in South Shore and Woodlawn have also been turned into shelters despite community resistance.
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Meanwhile, dozens of migrants are sleeping at O’Hare International Airport while they await placement at a Chicago-run shelter. Some say they’ve been there for weeks.
Conway said at the meeting that the migrant crisis wasn’t a problem with roots in Chicago.
“There are leaders in other parts of the country who have tried to make a political spectacle out of a humanitarian crisis and sow division in Chicago,” the alderman said in a statement released Wednesday. “This is not just a local issue, but a federal one, and we are going to need resources and collaboration from all levels of government to develop a long-term solution to this problem.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Democratic members of the Illinois congressional delegation last week asked the Biden administration for “significant support and immigration policy changes” to expedite work permits for migrants and ease pressure on the city.
Johnson warned “the city of Chicago cannot go on welcoming new arrivals safely and capably” without increased aid from the federal government.
Conway said Wednesday night that he shared neighbors’ frustrations with the short notice about the shelter reopening. He also expressed pride in residents’ initial response to the news, observing that the question most frequently submitted was about where to go to volunteer time and resources.
The city will assess how the shelter is working after six months, Ponce de León said.
