Chicago’s new police chief says that using police stations as temporary housing for illegal aliens in the city is a “burden” on the department.
“We were the first to open our doors to the migrants and they’re still coming. And we have not turned them away,” Police Superintendent Larry Snelling told the Associated Press (AP) during an interview. “But what we need are other people to step up in these situations because the burden has been on the police department to house people.”
As of Oct. 5, Chicago had received more than 17,000 migrants, which has placed a strain on a city that already has a $538 million budget deficit projected for 2024.
Chicago is one of a handful of locales that has prided itself on being a “sanctuary city” for illegal aliens. Holding those areas to their word, border state officials have been sending migrants who crossed the U.S. southern border to those sanctuary cities to help relieve the burden places on small border towns, which are unable to sustain the 7.2 million illegal aliens who have entered the U.S. under the Biden administration.
Currently, there are more than 3,000 migrants sleeping at Chicago police stations. Some are camping out in lobbies, while others congregate outside, sleeping on mattresses or in tents on the sidewalks, the AP reported.
Snelling said that officers have been generous to migrants, purchasing books, toys, food, and clothing.
“I do worry about the wellness of officers who see these conditions every single day because they’re concerned human beings,” he said, adding that the new arrivals “should be treated with the same respect that we expect our own family members to be treated with and our officers are doing that.”
Amid criticism from local officials, Mayor Brandon Johnson has allocated $150 million for migrant arrivals, roughly half of the projected cost of the crisis.
“It sounds like we’re not getting a straight answer on how much we’re spending. You say $300 million, we’re relying on the state, we’re relying on the feds. The state has already said that we can’t come down there looking for any more money,” said Ald. Anthony Beale (9th Ward).
City officials are now planning to send some migrants from Chicago to nearby St. Louis.
