A Chicago alderman is encouraging residents to contact federal representatives over problems resulting from the housing of migrants at a Streeterville hotel.
Second Ward Ald. Brian Hopkins says in a letter to residents the issues are occurring in the area around the Inn of Chicago on Ohio Street.
Because 1,200 migrants are housed there, it has sparked an increase in crimes such as drug sales, prostitution and aggressive panhandling, says Hopkins, who stresses the migrants are not necessarily the ones committing those crimes.
He urges Streeterville residents to contact Illinois Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth as well as Chicago Congressman Danny Davis to urge a federal solution to the migrant crisis.
“They need to hear the urgency of the situation,” Hopkins said. “We can’t sustain this. We cannot indefinitely use the Inn of Chicago and police stations and other facilities as permanent housing facilities for people that don’t have the ability to support themselves and to generate their own income.”
Hopkins says the challenge of dealing with asylum-seekers being sent to Chicago by the busload is bigger than the city can handle.
Chicago’s Mayor Brandon Johnson has had no real comment regarding this situation and it’s highly doubtful that he will address it since he has not addressed increasing crime in the River North and Gold Coast neighborhoods.