Black Chicagoans Feel Left Behind as Millions Marshaled for Migrant Crisis

Migrants collect their belongings and stand on the street in Chicago, Wednesday, March 27, 2024.

By Africa News and AP

Migrants outside shelters like this one in Chicago have become a common sight in several big American cities.

Cities have scrambled to provide housing, health care, and more.

The speed with which these funds were marshaled has stirred widespread.

Community leaders denounce the migration policy, saying locals feel left out.

Reverend Chauncey D. Brown is a pastor at Second Baptist Church in Maywood, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. 

“The thousands of migrants that are being shipped to Democratic led cities, with African American mayors being pawned on to underserved communities is unfair both to the communities, but also unfair to the humanity that is forced into these neighborhoods, dropped off at police stations, dropped off in the middle of underserved neighborhoods.”

This comes as Chicago contends with a homeless crisis and a high crime rate among other issues.

"What about those who have been living in neighborhoods that have been stripped of banks, stripped of grocery stores, stripped of quality education, and all of a sudden there is a group that is coming in and it's causing animosity between the citizens and the new generation of people that are coming in.”

Over 38,000 migrants mostly South Americans have arrived in Chicago prompting the city to spend more than $300 million.

After nearly two years of acrimony, the city has begun to curb some accommodations for migrants – which has caused its own backlash. 

In March, the city started evicting migrants who overstayed a 60-day limit at shelters, prompting condemnation from immigrant rights groups and from residents worried about public safety.

Local community leader and Executive Director of Equity and Transformation in Chicago, Richard Wallace, believes that recent migrants are coming to the city looking for better opportunities. "And the only way that I feel like we can preserve that dream, right, is through building racial solidarity so that there is no competition."