A Chicago neighborhood located near a makeshift shelter for immigrants is pushing back against the influx of asylum-seekers being housed in the building, arguing the shelter is taking away vital resources and programming from the community.
Edgewater residents put together a report for Chicago officials highlighting the impact of turning the Broadway Armory into a shelter on the hundreds of families living near the building, according to the Chicago Tribune. The community is lodging complaints that the families are not getting the programming that they used to, asking the officials to stop housing immigrants in their area.
The neighborhood is one of several in the Windy City being affected by the wave of immigrants from the southern border, with residents in similar neighborhoods blasting the city for ignoring their existing needs. Since August 2022, 608 buses have arrived from Texas at the direction of Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX), bringing more than 34,000 immigrants into Chicago. There are 28 shelters in operation within the city, holding 14,967 shelter members as of Jan. 16, and the city disbanded its plan to create new shelters, citing high costs.