Chicago City Wire

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has temporarily halted his plans to address the housing crisis for asylum-seeking migrants by constructing temporary winterized tent camps.

On Monday, the Johnson administration informed reporters that City Hall will not immediately proceed with the city's proposal to establish a migrant tent camp at a vacant shopping mall parking lot in Morgan Park at 115th and Halsted.

City Hall has yet to identify other potential locations for winter tent encampments. According to CBS News, it seems that both City Hall and the Pritzker administration have chosen to shelter migrants in buildings, including a vacant CVS in Little Village, and a selection of churches.

Last week, as reported by Prairie State Wire, Gov. J.B. Pritzker withdrew funding for the Johnson Administration's plan to accommodate 2,000 migrants in an encampment on former industrial land in the Brighton Park neighborhood. This decision came after the state environmental protection agency ruled that contamination found at the site rendered it unsafe.

As of Tuesday, according to city records, 404 individuals were staying at police stations - a significant decrease from over 3,300 people in October. In total, Chicago's shelter system is currently housing 13,791 migrants.