CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Chicago officials said three migrants were evicted from city shelters on Sunday, the city's first day enforcing its 60-day shelter stay policy.
At the start of Sunday, officials estimated 34 migrants would be evicted, but the Office of Emergency Management and Communications said 31 people received extensions.
Of those who received extensions, four are pregnant or have a disability and 27 are in the process of applying for benefits.
Officials previously said they would implement exemptions for families with children under the age of 18; people under quarantine; those who are pregnant or ill; and those who are on the verge of securing more permanent housing. Families with children enrolled in Chicago Public Schools have already been told they have until the end of the school of the year.
Knazze said they’re taking it one day at a time with the first wave.
Ald. Ray Lopez (15th) was critical of Mayor Brandon Johnson's decision to impose the stay limits and then push off evictions, which were expected to start on Saturday the city previously pushed the deadline back.
"All of this is just smoke and mirrors by this administration to buy more and more time in the hopes that, at some point, post-November, if Joe Biden is re-elected, there will be millions upon millions of dollars in federal help coming to the city to address this," Lopez said.
On Friday, the Johnson administration announced its plans to evict 244 migrants by the end of March. Overall, Johnson’s plans would have 2,000 new arrivals evicted by the end of April.
“Those were individuals that entered the shelter system starting [Nov. 16, 2023], when we announced our 60-day police,” Brandi Knazze, the city’s commissioner of Family and Support Services, said Friday.
Individuals who are evicted will be required to find other housing or return to the city’s landing zone for new arrivals, where they would request placement at another shelter.
City officials said anyone in a shelter must be vaccinated for measles, following an outbreak at a migrant shelter in Pilsen.
So far, no one has refused the vaccinations, officials said.
WBBM reporter Nancy Harty contributed to this report.
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