The migrant situation in major Democratic-led cities has subsided in the year since it was declared a full-fledged emergency. However, the problem has not gone away.
More over a year ago, a surge in border crossings, combined with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s busing of individuals to blue cities, resulted in a major flood of asylum seekers into Chicago, New York, Boston, and elsewhere. They slept at police stations and hospitals. New York City’s mayor has proposed hosting refugees on a boat. Democratic lawmakers have even publicly criticized President Joe Biden for not doing enough.
As the incoming Trump administration vows to deport illegal immigrants, including those with temporary protected status, Democratic-led cities are still debating how to house asylum seekers while also considering what to do if President-elect Donald Trump decides to deport them.
Tom Homan, the incoming border czar, was in Chicago recently, raging against local leaders who have pledged not to cooperate with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities in deporting migrants, raising concerns among immigration advocates and Democrats.
“What we’re trying to figure out is how much of it will be bluster, and how much of it will be real,” said Democratic Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, who represents Chicago.
Officials in some of these communities have achieved some control over the problem, in part by providing alternative lodging for thousands of migrants. along the same time, the number of migrants coming into the United States along the southern border fell dramatically.
However, the dilemma is far from resolved. In Massachusetts, the expenses for the state’s emergency shelter program were marginally lower than the almost $1 billion authorities projected — but they are still double what the state has previously budgeted for the already-overburdened system. In New York, Mayor Eric Adams revealed intentions to close a shelter capable of housing up to 2,000 people on a disused airport in Brooklyn, one of approximately 25 sites that the city has closed or is in the process of dismantling.
And Chicago closed a landing zone where new immigrants could get information on shelters, food, and legal help, while also integrating migrant and homeless shelters under a new system that some argue cannot accommodate both communities.
“We’re dealing with a crisis that is about to get even worse once the shelters for migrants close,” said Antonio Gutierrez, a community organizer with Organized Communities Against Deportations in Chicago.
Even before Trump takes office, officials in several states are limiting asylum applicants’ housing options. Late last month, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey put additional constraints on the state’s still-overburdened emergency shelter system, tightening eligibility requirements for families seeking temporary refuge and outlining intentions to persuade the Legislature to enact a new six-month stay limit.
It’s the most recent round of changes to the state’s shelter criteria since Healey originally limited the state’s emergency shelter system to 7,500 families last year.
Since then, her government has systematically reduced services to offset rising expenditures. Over the summer, she prohibited families from sleeping on the floor at Boston’s Logan Airport and sent officers to the southern border to discourage new immigrants from attempting to settle in Massachusetts.
The belt tightening appears to be having the desired effect. According to bi-weekly updates from the state’s Office of Housing and Livable Communities, the system’s cost for this fiscal year is expected to be lower than previously projected.
However, campaigners warn that the upcoming six-month limit and additional eligibility standards would not provide enough time for families in the shelter system — which includes over 3,000 families who arrived as migrants, asylum seekers, or refugees — to find stable accommodation given the state’s housing crisis.
“We’re concerned that it’s just not realistic to expect the majority of families to be able to secure alternative or permanent housing in that time frame,” Kelly Turley, associate director of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, told HEADLINESFOREVER.
Chicago, which recently completed a grueling budget process, has also reduced rental aid.
In Chicago, some freshly arrived migrants have gotten housing assistance from state and municipal programs that provide security deposits or a few months’ rent. Some grantees have fallen behind, frequently because they have been unable to find job due to a lack of a work visa or language challenges, according to Gutierrez.
Compounding the dilemma, new newcomers are still failing to obtain lodging, despite the city consolidating migrant and homeless shelters under a single unified system.
“Those are just some of the realities of what we’re seeing day to day,” according to him.