Chicago’s South Side residents are worried the city is focusing on illegal immigrants over the city’s own residents. This is after the liberal city plan to house hundreds of illegal immigrants in a shuttered K-Mart.
Since Texas began busing border crossers and illegal aliens to Chicago, a sanctuary city, more than 5,100 have arrived. The overwhelming majority of those new arrivals, nearly 4,000, have sought to be sheltered by the city, paid for by state and local taxpayers.
Now, Illinois officials with the Department of Human Services are seeking to house nearly 700 migrants in an old Kmart superstore building that closed in 2016.
Now, locals are already raising alarms over the plan.
The plan comes as Democrat Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration has outraged residents living in the city’s South Side over spending millions in tax dollars to house newly arrived border crossers and illegal aliens in an abandoned school building.
More details of this report from ABC 7 in Chicago:
State plans to turn shuttered Southwest Side Kmart store into a shelter for migrants
Elected officials and community groups are telling the State of Illinois to slow down after learning that a shuttered West Lawn Kmart located at 71st and Pulaski may soon house several hundred migrants being bused to Chicago from Texas.
“We’re not looking for just ‘here, it’s a building with four walls and that’s it. It’s a roof over your head.’ No,” said State Rep. Angie Guerrero-Cuéllar (D-22).
Guerrero-Cuéllar expressed concerns over the timeline.
“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,” Guerrero-Cuéllar said.
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…
Guerrero-Cuéllar says the community needs time to fully understand what is happening and to develop an adequate safety plan.
“I want to make sure residents understand what the timeline is going to be,” Guerrero-Cuéllar said. “Is this going to be a short term shelter? A permanent shelter? How long are they going to be here?”
Watch the video report below for more details:
Sources: TheGatewayPundit, ABC 7
