New immigrant arrivals strain Chicago resources

U.S. cities already struggling to provide shelter and other services to thousands of migrants are calling for federal help and an end to some Republican governors’ political gamesmanship over immigration, wary of an expected increase in the number of people illegally crossing the U.S. border with Mexico when pandemic-era asylum restrictions end in nine days. Chicago has seen the number of new arrivals grow tenfold in recent days.

Shelter space is scarce and migrants awaiting a bed are sleeping on floors in police stations and airports. More than 8,000 migrants have come into Chicago since August. The flow of new arrivals slowed this winter to about 10 people per day. But toward the end of April, it grew to between 75 to 150 people arriving each day.