Chicago announces plans to provide shelter and other needs for immigrants ahead of winter

The city of Chicago introduced plans to help keep asylum-seekers warm throughout the winter season, which will include partnering with several organizations providing help.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson announced that the city will deploy a multitude of buses for the immigrants to stay warm. Beyond this, the city will also partner with several faith leaders and organizations to donate items needed to combat winter weather, such as coats and gloves.

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“We will continue exploring all options to provide temporary shelter, which includes working with aldermen, the State of Illinois and communities across the city in supporting efforts to move new arrivals indoors and off of the floors of O’Hare Airport and police stations,” an online statement from the city read.

Among the organizations partnering with the city to help the asylum-seekers and immigrants are One Warm Coat, which provides coats to those in need, and New Life Centers, which will give used furniture, winter clothes, and hygiene items.

Johnson announced earlier this year that the city would establish “more suitable” camps for the over 1,600 immigrants it is hosting. Chicago police have been using its buildings to shelter the immigrants, with the goal being to relocate the immigrants by winter.

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The city has received over 19,000 asylum-seekers since Aug. 31 last year, and over 68,000 residents of the city are experiencing homelessness, according to a 2023 study by the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.

The mayor of Chicago had initially planned to visit the southern border but opted out of visiting on Oct. 16. Johnson said he was not visiting so that he could focus on “the immediate urgency of adding shelter space to house thousands of new arrivals currently sleeping in police stations, airports or outside,” according to a statement from the mayor’s office.