Colin Boyle/Block Club ChicagoMore than 10 times the number of migrants were temporarily staying overnight at the city’s landing zone Monday compared to a week ago.
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SOUTH LOOP — Over 500 migrants slept in CTA buses at the city’s designated landing zone for new arrivals Monday — a record as Texas officials double down on busing people to Chicago and city leaders scramble to find enough housing with snow and freezing cold coming.
As of Monday morning, 537 asylum seekers were at the landing zone at Desplaines and Polk streets, waiting to be placed at shelters, according to data from the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications. Dozens of people were walking around the area Monday, some throwing around a football for the first time. Many people were seen huddled inside CTA buses labeled “warming bus.”
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The landing zone is the city’s required drop-off point for buses bringing migrants to Chicago — although that policy has been flouted repeatedly in recent weeks.
When asylum seekers arrive in Chicago via bus, train or “other means,” they are received at the landing zone to await placement in a city shelter, city officials have said. Once there, they are provided with meals, blankets, warm clothing and space on a “warming bus.”
The number of people awaiting shelter placement at the landing zone has fluctuated dramatically. A week ago, only 56 people were staying there, according to city data. On Saturday morning, there were 120 people there. The next day, there were 472.
There were eight CTA buses at the landing zone Monday morning, ahead of a winter storm anticipated to bring 2-5 inches of snow to the Chicago area.
Andres, one of the dozens of people at the landing zone Monday, said he arrived Saturday after traveling from Medellín, Colombia, for more than a month. He came to Chicago from El Paso, Texas, on a bus, he said. Once here, officials at the landing zone gave him a kit which included some basic hygiene supplies, a backpack and a jacket, he said.
The 21-year-old said volunteers periodically bring donated goods to the area, which is how he got a thick pair of gloves. Andres said he’s still waiting for new shoes — his only pair of shoes are missing the laces after they were taken out by immigrations officials in Texas.
The bus Andres has been sleeping on at night is warm enough, but not particularly comfortable, he said.
“Last night, the bus was very full — about 30 people,” he said. “People find space for themselves in every spot. In the aisles, on the seats, between the seats. Sometimes more buses arrive and they move people to create more space.”
There’s a mix of single adults and families with kids at the landing zone, Andres said. He said it feels like the families are getting space in a shelter quicker, and he hopes his turn is soon.
Mary May, a spokesperson with the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications, said priority for shelter is being given to families with children.
“I thought I would be in a shelter,” Andres said. “And if I’m not able to find work in a month, two months, I’ll have to try somewhere else.”
Andres also said he’s seen ambulances come to the site to treat sick people over the last few days.
Larry Merritt, a spokesperson for the Chicago Fire Department, said two children were taken to Rush University Medical Center from the landing zone on Sunday, and one toddler and an adult were taken to Stroger Hospital Monday morning. It wasn’t immediately clear what they were hospitalized for or what their conditions were.
There’s been increased pressure for the city to address health concerns in the congregate settings with migrants following the death of a young boy who was staying in a city-run shelter last month.
Rafael Hernandez, 26, from Aragua, Venezuela, has been waiting at the landing zone for four days, he said.
The cold is “another level,” he said, showing off the four layers of mismatched shirts and jackets he wore Monday morning.
Hernandez described the environment at the landing zone as “anxious,” with hundreds of people needing shelter.
“The excitement is strong” when people’s names get called for a shelter spot, he said.
State officials announced in November they would spend $30 million on an intake center at the landing zone to welcome new arrivals and accelerate resettlement efforts, including outside Chicago.
Six heated tents are now under construction at the landing zone and are expected to open “in the coming weeks,” according to a state press release
The landing zone has ostensibly replaced police station lobbies as the place for migrants to stay while waiting for shelter space. Until recently, police stations across the city were housing, at times, thousands of migrants.
As colder weather descended on Chicago in October — and criticism mounted over the city’s handling of the humanitarian crisis — Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration began phasing out the use of police districts as temporary shelters. The city has opened shelters in leased buildings and partnered with more than a dozen churches to temporarily house people.
As of Monday, nearly 14,700 asylum seekers were living in 27 active shelters; 242 people were also staying at O’Hare Airport, officials said.
More than 29,900 migrants have come to Chicago since August 2022, when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began busing thousands of people, many from Venezuela, to Democratic-led cities in protest of federal immigration policies.
Quinn Myers contributed to this story.
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