(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – Protests continued Friday from some Chicago residents who oppose plans to house large groups of migrants in their back yards.
In Brighton Park, about 200 residents marched through the neighborhood to protest the prospect of a migrant camp site at 38th and California.
Much of the visible protest came from the surrounding Asian American community. Residents held signs that read, "Don't add it to our tax" and "You can't decide who we live with."
Longtime resident Ricardo Palacios singled out elected city leaders for not communicating with the neighborhood. He said there is no racial undertone to the organized protest.
"This has nothing to do the Hispanics, the Blacks and the whites," he said. "This is a community that's united. Right here, we're a family. It doesn't matter what color."
Patrick Brosnan, executive director of the Brighton Park Community Council, shared a different opinion, said families with children cannot continue sleeping outside.
"We know that something needs to be done," Brosnan said.
Mayor Johnson said an environmental study is being done at the site.
Also Friday, opponents urged city officials to abandon similar plans to build a migrant encampment at 115th and Halsted, at the parking lot of a former Jewel store on the Far South Side. They say the local alderman, Ronnie Mosley of the 21st Ward, flipflopped on the issue.
Mosley reportedly dropped his opposition after Mayor Brandon Johnson agreed that the property would no longer be used to shelter migrants after Nov. 1, 2024. In a joint statement released Thursday, they said, "The final assessment of the base camp is almost complete, and we will share operations details before placing people on site."
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