Chicago: Chicago’s new police chief said the city’s use of police stations as temporary housing for the growing population of migrants seeking asylum has been a “burden” on the nation’s second-largest police department.
Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said Tuesday that among his main concerns is the toll the city’s approach has taken on officers’ well being because it is unfolding in their workplace.
“We were the first to open our doors to the migrants and they’re still coming. And we have not turned them away,” Snelling said. “But what we need are other people to step up in these situations because the burden has been on the police department to house people.”
Currently, over 3,000 new arrivals are sleeping at police stations with hundreds more at airports. Some stay a few days — others months — while they await longer-term placement at shelters set up throughout the city, including small hotels, a park field house and unused commercial space.
More than 18,500 migrants have arrived in Chicago since Texas Gov. Greg Abbot began sending buses last year to so-called sanctuary cities, or largely Democrat-run places that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
