A bus was parked outside Piotrowski Park on Saturday afternoon as migrants staying at the park’s relay station were transferred to a nearby shelter.
“I’m not against anyone because I’m also an immigrant,” said Little Village resident Rogelio Diaz. “If the city helps them, that’s great.”
Migrants began leaving Leone Park and Boathouse in Rogers Park on Friday.
“We have to do this comprehensively,” said Ald. Michael Rodriguez, who represents Chicago’s 22nd district. “But Piotrowski Park and other parks need to be used by the community again at this point.”
The Piotrowski Park country house opened in May as a temporary shelter for migrant families.
The City of Chicago previously announced plans to decompress the park’s remaining facilities in the coming weeks. These additional emergency shelter sites are Gage Park, Broadway Armory Park and Brands Park.
Around 738 migrants are staying in the city’s five centers.
“Catholic Charities and New Life Centers have done an outstanding job helping our migrants access more permanent housing and they will continue to do so,” said Alderman Rodriguez. “Thanks to these efforts and the decrease in the number of new arrivals, we are able to decompress the sites immediately.”
As of Saturday morning, 10,136 migrants were staying in 23 shelters across the city. Additionally, 103 migrants were waiting to be placed in shelters and two additional buses were expected to arrive at some point today.
A man staying at the Gage Park temporary shelter told NBC 5/Telemundo Chicago the city plans to move him in less than two weeks.
“Well, by April 8, we have to move everything out of the shelter. We still don’t know where they are going to send us,” said Carlos Moreno, originally from Venezuela.
Although its future remains uncertain, city leaders said they are doing their best to remedy the situation.
“Look, the federal government needs to step up,” Rodriguez said. “We need real, comprehensive immigration reform. We need real investments from the federal government.
Migrants staying at Piotrowski Park were transferred to the shelter at 26th Street and Pulaski Road. As for the sports complex, the park district said it will assess conditions inside and make necessary repairs and maintenance before reopening it to the public.
No reopening date had yet been announced as of Saturday afternoon.
NBC Chicago
