CHICAGO — Sporadic eviction notices telling thousands of migrants they must leave shelters has left many scrambling — with little to no guidance from the city about where they can go next.
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration has picked Feb. 1 as the new date to begin evicting migrants from city shelters under an imposed 60-day limit to stays. It’s the second time the eviction date has been pushed back in less than a week.
The deadlines come as the city again shifts its strategy for sheltering migrants, according to city briefings. The city doesn’t plan to create new shelters or add beds, but will work with churches and other groups to try to transition people to more stable housing. The state has vowed to add 2,000 beds for migrants, but it’s unclear when that will happen, or where the beds will be.
The Harold Washington Library, meanwhile, is serving as a warming center for newly arrived migrants and others, according to the briefing.
Migrants and volunteers told Block Club that the changing deadline for leaving shelters has created “panic,” with communication from the city limited to single-page eviction notices in Spanish, often passed out just a day or two before shelter stays are said to be up.
Some migrants still have outdated eviction notices penned for Jan. 22, when the deadline was first extended, said volunteer Erika Villegas, who has been receiving frantic messages from families with pictures of the notices.
“I don’t understand the purpose of just creating another crisis, by not giving any direction to the most vulnerable people in the city,” Villegas said. “It’s unfair we’re not providing the tools for people to become independent.”
About 1,900 migrants could be evicted from city shelters Feb. 1, with another 960 facing eviction Feb. 2 and a total of over 6,000 by the end of the month, according to city data. Only a fraction of people facing those most immediate deadlines have already left shelters on their own accord, according to a city briefing obtained by Block Club.
Mayoral spokesperson Ronnie Reese said plans are still in flux.
“We are currently finalizing changes to the 60-day policy and will have more information in the coming weeks,” Reese said in an email.
Staffers across the city’s 28 temporary shelters have started talking to migrants “about their expected exit date and to ask them about the onward movement plans post-shelter exit,” according to a city email.
But volunteers and migrants said they have not yet been connected with case managers or city staffers about the impending deadlines.
“It’s causing panic and rumors,” said a volunteer who asked not to be named.
The Johnson administration announced the 60-day limit to shelter stays in November, in a bid to speed up efforts to resettle people as the state stepped in with millions of dollars in support. But new arrivals continued to outpace available shelter beds, and plans for large tent encampments were halted, leading the city to pause its strategy to open more shelters.
Migrants who are evicted can request shelter again upon returning to a South Loop “landing zone,” where the state is now operating intake centers for new arrivals, a city spokesperson said. Some at the crowded landing zone are sleeping on CTA buses as they await placement.
Andre Gordillo, a director with New Life Centers, a local nonprofit tapped to work at the landing zone, said his staff is expecting an influx of people who may be returning there once their 60-day stays are up.
“We’re preparing for hundreds, but hopefully that’s not the case,” Gordillo said. “It’s tough to find housing just for regular Chicagoans in the wintertime, let alone someone who’s not familiar with the landscape of renting in Chicago.”
Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th), who chairs the City Council’s Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights, called the Johnson administration’s 60-day policy “inhumane and wrong,” even in the face of mounting city budget shortfalls for sheltering efforts.
“Chicago shouldn’t be in the business of evicting people, much less during a cold winter,” Vasquez said in a social media post. “Families, including women and children who are in CPS, will end up on the street and lead to even larger costs for the city.”
Paper eviction notices given to migrants cited “severe weather conditions” as the reason for the delays to their final date. Many fear it won’t be much warmer if the policy is finally enforced in February.
“This is the first time I’ve felt cold like this. It’s so forceful,” said a migrant staying at the Elston Avenue shelter, who asked not to be named in fear it could impact her chance at receiving shelter again. “The shelter gave us the letters, but didn’t explain what is going to happen next, where we should go or if there is another place we can go.”
She worries she may have no choice but to survive on the streets during the city’s coldest month.
“The people in the shelter now, they don’t have families they could go to. If I did have someone I could stay with, you can believe I wouldn’t be at this shelter,” she said. “The mayor, the governor need to open up their hearts. We’re human and in reality we’ve never experienced this climate before.”
Another migrant facing the Feb. 1 deadline said she’s secured work permission unlike many others, but has had trouble getting hired during winter months. She’s applied to house cleaning services, restaurants, bakeries and mechanic shops and has been told that companies won’t start hiring again until the spring, she said.
“Just give us two more months of shelter,” she said. “Sending people out into the street now is brutal.”
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