CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Mayor Lightfoot is defending her administration’s handling of the growing number of homeless people seeking shelter at O’Hare Airport.
Calling it unacceptable, the mayor said she has told the police department and the Department of Aviation that homeless people can not be spending the night in what is supposed to be a secure location.
“We are going to continue, within the bounds of the law, to do what is necessary to provide those folks with support, but elsewhere, they can’t be in our airports,” Lightfoot said.
The Tribune cited several reasons for the growing number of people taking up residence in baggage claim and other areas of O’Hare: cold weather, fewer beds at shelters since COVID and more migrants utilizing them.
Earlier this month, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced it was giving Chicago $60 million to address homelessness.
The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless estimates more than 65,000 people were homeless at some point in Chicago in 2020.
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