(UnitedVoice.com) – More than 15,000 migrants have settled in Chicago as a result of Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s (R) bussing program. The influx has overwhelmed shelters, forcing the city to turn police stations and other places into migrant camps. According to reports, there’s been an increase in crime in and around the shelters.
Over the weekend of September 23, a fight broke out in a migrant shelter in Chicago. Reports indicate it wasn’t the first time. In early September, Alderman Ray Lopez began calling on elected officials to lift some of the sanctuary city’s protections because of an increase in drug- and gang-related activities in and around the shelters.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Lopez wanted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to be able to arrest migrants who are committing crimes. He proposed ICE be allowed to act when someone was arrested for gang-related activities, drugs, prostitution, and sex crimes related to minors. Also, anyone convicted of a felony for those crimes would be subject to action by federal officers. The motion has not passed the proposal.
In August, Alderman Brian Hopkins said his office was fielding complaints about an increase in drugs, fights, prostitution, and other crimes. He said the stores around the shelters are experiencing an increase in shoplifting, too. The alderman said the federal government should be doing more to help.
Chicago alderman sounds the alarm over an increase in prostitution, drug sales, and fights at migrant shelters in the city. Stores near the shelters say they've seen more instances of shoplifting. pic.twitter.com/61O2lZESVs
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) August 21, 2023
Brandon Vulpitta owns a popular karaoke bar near the shelter where the fight broke out over the weekend. He told the press that nobody cared about the refuge in the area, but he accused officials of doing nothing to take control of the situation. He said, “Our clients don’t feel safe anymore.”
Alderman Brendan Reilly claims he has received feedback from hundreds of residents in his district, and they have complained about migrants fighting and dirty sidewalks. He told Mayor Brandon Johnson that while he is sympathetic to the migrants’ plights, there are “serious concerns that need to be addressed immediately.”
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