Chicago scrambling to find shelter for migrants ahead of dangerous cold
Chicago residents Sam Sanchez and Cata Truss calls out the city for putting migrants' needs ahead of citizens
Chicago residents are up in arms as the city continues to struggle in its effort to house migrants, accusing local leaders of neglecting its own impoverished and homeless citizens.
Over 300 migrants have been boarded onto warming buses while nearly 15,000 migrants are in Chicago shelters ahead of a dangerous drop in temperatures, according to data from the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
Hundreds more are waiting for placement at locations around the city, including Chicago O'Hare International Airport.
"I do have to wonder, are they going to provide those warming buses down on Canal Street, where the tents are located for the homeless, or down on Roosevelt, where tents are located for the homeless, or over on Division Street where tents are located for the homeless?" resident Cata Truss asked on "Fox & Friends" Friday.
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Nearly 34,000 migrants have arrived in the city since beginning data collection, with over $156 million spent on housing and care since Oct. 2022, according to the city. The city recorded 6,139 homeless residents in 2023.
Truss argued Chicago does not have the resources to continue to help illegal immigrants, citing a $391 billion projected deficit for Chicago Public Schools.
She pointed the finger directly at President Biden and the Democratic Party's border policies.
"What is needed is for us to stop the bleeding. What is needed is for us to cut the transportation to the borders. What is needed is for our mayor to say we have exhausted all of our resources, we have no money, we have no more space, we have no more resources for migrants. And we have to stop at some point and say, right now we have enough. And at what point do we close the borders and help to fix whatever's going wrong in these countries that have those people fleeing here in the first place?" she asked.
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Resident Sam Sanchez agreed that American citizens and migrants waiting for work visas for decades have been neglected in favor of the new wave of asylum seekers.
"Why can't you take the [homeless] residents in Chicago and put them in a 4 or 5 star hotel with meals, room service, laundry service, medical service?" he asked.
"Resources that have been denied to communities that have been long forgotten for over 50 years. Schooling, education, job training program, the homeless. I mean, for years we've been asked for trade schools and these communities, and the funds are not there. Now, the funds appear out of nowhere for newcomers and migrants."
Recently arrived migrants in a makeshift shelter operated by the city of Chicago at O'Hare International Airport on Aug. 31, 2023. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) ((Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images))
Sanchez believes Americans' frustrations will be reflected at the ballot box this November.
"What the elected officials should realize [is] that some of these old migrants have been here for a long time, have children and grandchildren that are voting age. This is going to reflect on the next election, and I hope it does," he said.
When asked by host Lawrence Jones if Biden has failed the people of Chicago, Truss answered "absolutely."
"We're still not receiving any kind of resolution from the Biden administration," she said, adding Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson are also to blame.
"The people are crying out and no one is listening, they are just not listening… we're supporting these people and voting [for] these people and they don't give a damn about us."
The mayor's office did not respond to a request for comment from "Fox & Friends."
Johnson recently said the current situation is "not sustainable" and that the city needs significant help from the federal government.
"I've said repeatedly we need more resources. [W]ithout real significant investment from our federal government, it won’t just be the city of Chicago that won’t be able to maintain this mission; it’s the entire country that is now at stake," Johnson said.
