Homelessness skyrockets in sanctuary city as migrants surge into shelter

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Chicago saw a massive increase in the number of homeless people in the city over the past year, fueled by the ongoing migrant surge into shelters in the sanctuary city, according to new data.

The city, which will host the Democratic National Convention in August, released a snapshot of homeless numbers in the Windy City, which showed there were 18,836 homeless people one night in January, up from 6,139 the same day a year before.

The point-in-time count estimates the number of people in shelters, transitional housing, encampments and other "unsheltered" locations. The estimate noted the pressures the migrant crisis poses to the city.

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Migrants receive food outside a migrant landing zone during a winter storm in Chicago on Jan. 12. (Kamil Krzacznski/AFP via Getty Images)

"Since August 2022, Chicago has welcomed over 40,000 New Arrivals arriving from the southern border, many of whom have needed shelter and services," it said.

"The largest increase in this year’s Shelter Count was due to the continued influx of New Arrivals to Chicago in 2023." 

Of the 18,838 considered homeless, 13,679 were classified as "sheltered new arrivals" and 1,422 were "unsheltered new arrivals." The number of "non-new arrivals" who did not have shelter increased from 970 to 1,422, and those in shelter increased from 2,973 to 3,523. 

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City officials said the pressures, which also include the end of pandemic-era support from the federal and state governments, would have been worse if it hadn’t been for an increase in shelter capacity.

"We were anticipating this increase, but we also, at the same time, increased our shelter capacity more than five times," Maura McCauley, managing deputy commissioner for the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services, told the Chicago Sun-Times. "And if we hadn’t done that, we really think that we would have seen a really unprecedented and tragic increase in our unsheltered population."

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The numbers are an indicator of the considerable pressures on the city from the surge in migrants, which has been fueled by the crisis at the southern border and the decision by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to bus migrants to sanctuary cities to relieve pressure on the overwhelmed state.

Fox previously reported that Chicago police have made more than 1,000 arrests of Venezuelan nationals in the first three months of 2024.

The city’s council, meanwhile, recently voted 30-18 to approve a request made by Mayor Brandon Johnson for an additional $70 million to help deal with the crisis.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson appears during an inauguration ceremony at the Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago on May 15, 2023. (Jamie Kelter Davis/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

That money is on top of a $150 million assigned to migrant care in the budget already. The extra funding move sparked considerable backlash from residents, who said the money should be spent on Americans rather than those in the country illegally.

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Johnson, along with mayors from other blue cities, have called for more action from the federal government. They have requested $5 billion in funding and expedited work permits for asylum seekers.

The Biden administration has called on Congress to act to fix a "broken" immigration system, but Republicans have said that the crisis has emerged from Biden-era policies and a pull factor from those "sanctuary" cities like Chicago, which offer services and shelter to illegal immigrants.