Chicago City Wire

Brighton Park neighbors in Chicago expressed their opposition to Mayor Brandon Johnson's plan to establish a winterized migrant tent city in their neighborhood. During a public meeting at Kelly High School, residents chanted "send them back" and "we don't want Venezuelans" in Spanish. 

The proposed tent encampment, located at 38th and California, could potentially house up to 2,000 migrants. However, the plan has faced consistent protests from neighbors and Ald. Julia Ramirez, who claims that the mayor did not inform her of the plans to locate a tent city in her ward.

Ramirez and a staffer were battered by protesters last week when she appeared at a protest of plans for building a migrant camp on private property in the 12th Ward. Since then, she has publicly chided the mayor for not seeking input from her or her residents. 

“To my frustration, the mayor’s office did not consult with me or my office about their current plans to construct a temporary shelter — meant to house 1,500 people — at 38th & California, nor did they inform my office that they would be sending work crews to conduct a site assessment last week," Ramirez wrote in a letter to Johnson.

Last month, the Johnson administration signed a $30 million contract to build winterized tent cities across Chicago to house migrants currently sheltering at city police stations, and Midway and O'Hare airports. The city has signed the $30 million contract with GardaWorld Federal Services LLC to establish winterized base camps across Chicago. These camps will feature soft-material yurt-like structures capable of accommodating 12 sleeping cots. 

In response to protests in the 12th Ward, the Johnson administration has not backed down from its plans to build a migrant tent city in Brighton Park. 

“The City of Chicago has been identifying viable sites across the city to construct base camps as an alternative to new arrivals sleeping outdoors, at O’Hare and on the floors of police district stations as winter fast approaches. The site at 38th and California appear viable, and the intention is to construct temporary shelter at this site," according to the statement released by the Mayor's Office, Fox News reported.

The controversy surrounding the planned migrant tent city in Brighton Park highlights the ongoing debate and tensions surrounding immigration and the treatment of migrants in the United States.