Deputy mayor praises Chicago's response to migrant crisis 2 years after mass busing began

CHICAGO (WLS) -- This week marks the two-year milestone since the beginning of the migrant busing crisis in Chicago.

Many things have changed since then. ABC7 spoke with the deputy mayor leading the new arrivals mission about the challenges they have overcome and those that still lie ahead.

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The mission to help migrants bussed to Chicago from the southern border at times stretched city resources to the limit, with the number peaking at more than 15,000 people in January of this year.

On Friday, the city is caring for 5,480 migrants at more than two dozen shelters. Deputy Mayor for Immigrant, Migrant and Refugee Rights Beatriz Ponce de Leon is leading the effort and is very pleased with the city's response.

"I think Chicago has built probably the strongest new arrivals mission of any city," Ponce de Leon said.

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Ponce de Leon reflected on when police stations were overrun as emergency shelters, praising the joint response.

"Many mutual aid groups came together, nonprofits, and I think collectively, both city residents as well as government, our social services sector, philanthropy, business, to some degree, have contributed to make this a successful mission," Ponce de Leon said.

Since the buses began arriving in Chicago on August 31, 2022, the city has received more than 47,000 new arrivals. But now, the numbers have dwindled to just a trickle, attributed to a Biden administration order limiting the number of asylum seekers.

And those who are still coming here do not always need assistance.

"We are seeing that there's a significant number of people arriving now who are able to meet up with friends or family on their own, or who even ask for support moving to another city in the Midwest area where they can meet up with friends or family," Ponce de Leon said.

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The city is learning lessons from the new arrivals mission that they hope can be used to help the city's other unhoused residents.

"It hasn't been perfect. It hasn't always been pretty. We've learned along the way, but we are in a steady state. We are able to meet the need as we see," Ponce de Leon said.

The wild card for the new arrivals mission rests with a court challenge this fall to the Biden administration limit on the number of asylum seekers allowed into the country. That is why the city is preparing for a possible increase in migrants coming here, just in case.