Some migrants in Chicago brave extreme cold just to get a hot meal
CHICAGO (CBS) -- About 50 newly arrived migrants were waiting out the bitter cold on Monday at the Harold Washington Library, which is being used as a temporary shelter to avoid having asylum seekers staying on buses at the official landing zone near downtown.
A total of 318 migrants were still waiting for placement in one of the city's 28 active shelters on Monday – most of them at O'Hare International Airport, with a handful of others staying at police stations.
CBS 2's Sabrina Franza spoke to some of those asylum seekers about how they're dealing with a kind of cold many have never experienced before.
Hundreds of migrants were staying at the city's shelter at Cermak Road and Halsted Street in Pilsen, with dozens of them braving the arctic cold outside – some of them in crocs, some in flip flops – just so they can get a warm meal.
From sunny South America to the icy coast of Lake Michigan; the cold in Chicago is something many asylum seekers have never experienced.
Geraldin, who didn't give her last name, said she regrets that she's in Chicago, but only because of the cold. Otherwise, she said she's happy with her decision to come to the city, adding that her family left Venezuela because they didn't have enough money to eat.
The family has had to brave subzero temperatures in recent days to find volunteers serving food across the street from the Pilsen shelter, the largest shelter in the city's system of 28 migrant shelters.
"We brought food, protective equipment for them, clothing," said Bryesha Adams, co-founder of Something Good in Englewood. "A lot of them actually have been coming to our headquarters. They travel all the way to Englewood asking for food, shelter, jobs even."
In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Adams and her team set up to serve food and distribute warm clothing to migrants on Monday.
"It's freezing in Chicago. They need the clothing. I mean look at the line now; some have on leggings, no coats," she said.
Geraldin was among the migrants waiting in line for food on Monday as she eagerly awaits the opportunity to get a job to support her daughter and the rest of her family.
"Completely important – this is what's needed," Adams said. "At the end of the day, we're all humans, you know? We all need just shelter, food – just the basic necessities."
On Tuesday, Mayor Brandon Johnson was supposed to meet with other mayors across the state to talk about providing those basic necessities. The meeting has been postponed to a later date because of the cold.
Gov. JB Pritzker continues to urge Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to stop sending migrants while ethe cold continues. Pritzker took out an ad in a Texas-based newspaper, the Austin American-Statesman. The ad read:
"While action is pending at the federal level, I plead with you for mercy for the thousands of people who are powerless to speak for themselves. Please, while winter is threatening vulnerable people's lives, suspend your transports and do not send more people to our state. We are asking you to help prevent additional deaths. We should be able to come together in a bipartisan fashion to urge Congress to act. But right now, we are talking about human beings and their survival.
"I hope we can agree on at least saving lives."
City officials said that on Monday, no migrants were staying inside buses at the official landing zone near Polk and Desplaines. Instead, asylum seekers who had been staying there have moved to brick-and-mortar shelters. The city also said they weren't expecting any buses of migrants to arrive in Chicago on Monday.
