Chicago City Wire

Outraged community groups are demanding that state officials pump the brakes on a plan that would mean hundreds of migrants bused to the state from Texas are moved into a shuttered West Lawn Kmart at 71st and Pulaski, ABC 7 reported. 

"How fast do you want to turn it around into a shelter where you are talking about having to come in and build out rooms and bathrooms and a kitchen area space that's going to be utilized for privacy?" Illinois State Rep. Angie Guerrero-Cuéllar (D-Chicago), told the station.

The property is 96,268 square feet, according to a past presentation about the development. It was among a group of Kmart stores across the country that closed in 2016, according to media reports at the time.

State officials are pushing the new plan just weeks after the city of Chicago converted Woodlawn’s Wadsworth Elementary School into a shelter over the angry objections of residents in the area, many of whom complained of not being allowed to have any input on the decision, the station reported.

"I want to make sure residents understand what the timeline is going to be," Guerrero-Cuéllar told ABC 7. "Is this going to be a short-term shelter? A permanent shelter? How long are they going to be here?"

More than 4,000 migrants have arrived in the Chicago area since the end of August when Texas began busing them to other cities. Many are being housed in suburban hotels. The state today confirmed they are looking at the Kmart location, according to ABC 7.