CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Advocates from Pilsen and Little Village say the City, State and relief agencies need to escalate their efforts to help the migrants who have been bussed to the Chicago area from other states.
Juan Soto is executive director of the Pilsen Neighbors Community Council.
"Pilsen has all the ammenities and it is a welcoming community for all immigrants."
He's concerned about what's happening to the migrant families that have found themselves in Chicago. He's joining other community leaders in speaking out.
He came to City Hall this week to say migrants who’ve ended up in Chicago need more help than they are getting right now-a sentiment echoed by Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez.
Sigcho-Lopez said he and local advocates are concerned about how the migrants are being cared for. He visited some housed in a hotel.
"I did not visit a hotel. I visited a jail," he said. "These migrants are isolated. They are enduring food insecurity and again these are over 60 trillion facing this in this one location."
Sigch0-Lopez said the resources are there, and he’s urging the city to use them.
At the City Hall news conference, Delilah Martinez, founder of the Mural Movement, said that when hundreds of migrants started showing up in Chicago, people in Pilsen and Little Village went into action.
"We started to collect donations immediately. We just turned my gallery into a donation center overnight and we thought that we would only need toiletries for the migrants, but we quickly realized it was a lot more than toiletries as we saw them come in with no socks, no shoes, no coats," she said.
"This includes the kids."
Martinez said the migrants have many needs, and the community is trying to help, but she said even big agencies seem to ignore their efforts.
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