Chicago Migrants sleep on CPD police station floors as city struggles to find housing for influx

CHICAGO (WLS) -- There is growing concern about how the city of Chicago is dealing with housing an influx of migrants coming in from other states.

More than 7,400 asylum-seekers have traveled to the city since August 2022, and even more are expected in the weeks ahead.

Friday two city council committees are meeting to figure out how to provide these migrants with continued support.

Right now, Efren Quintero and his family call the lobby floor of the North Side 24th district police station home.

"People from the police station and churches in Chicago have helped us with food, coats, treated us very nicely," he told ABC7 in Spanish.

They're just a few of hundreds of migrants surviving in Chicago's public spaces, and getting by thanks to the generosity of strangers.

In a southwest side police station, blankets are sprawled among bags of other families' personal belongings.

"They're very secure, but this is not a place to have a child living," said Baltazar Enriques of the Little Village Community Council. "Today we're here to see how many families are here so we can bring them survival packages."

The police station is part of Ald. Michael Rodriquez's ward, and his staff is in crisis response mode.

"My staff right now I think are washing their laundry," he said. "Others in the neighborhood have brought them food."

Migrant families are again flocking to Chicago by the hundreds for its sanctuary acceptance, only to find there's no official city spot for them to stay.

"The city of Chicago does not traditionally work as an entry point for people and so we don't have city systems and departments that are built to take people in," said Ald. Maria Hadden, 49th Ward.

The city said in a statement that it's "working with our partners to meet this increased need for shelter and urge the federal and state governments to support receiving cities."

"We requested $54 million from the state. They gave us $20 million. It's not enough," Hadden said. "This is tax money that we are spending and that we have put some of our own money in."

Now the city and groups are scrambling to open more temporary shelters, like the Leone Beach Field House, to keep migrants safe as they find their way in Chicago.

A joint committee on immigration will meet in City Hall Friday.