Why asylum-seekers no longer are being sent to the Northwest suburbs
While Chicago is struggling as much as ever to accommodate asylum-seekers being sent north from the Texas-Mexico border, the relief valve found in some suburbs last fall no longer is an option.
The change is the result of a shift in state policy, preventing - for now - events like last year, when dozens of Venezuelan migrants arrived in suburbs including Elk Grove Village, Des Plaines, Prospect Heights and Burr Ridge.
"I have kept in touch with (state officials) and the state didn't preclude reviving the process in the future, but are looking for more sustainable solutions to handle the numbers they are talking about," Des Plaines Mayor Andrew Goczkowski said. "Right now those solutions seem to be focused on working with the city of Chicago to make the most of the federal dollars that were pushed in."
Des Plaines took in about 80 Venezuelan migrants last year, while Elk Grove Village became temporary home to about 90 and Prospect Heights welcomed about 200 asylum-seekers.
A hotel in a part of Burr Ridge in DuPage County took in 64 asylum-seekers in what seemed to be a rare example of a transfer outside Cook County.
An Illinois Department of Human Services spokesperson said by email that using suburban hotels to house asylum-seekers last fall was seen as a short-term solution, and that Chicago and the state continue to work together to support recent arrivals. He said the department allocated an additional $10 million last month to the city as part of a grant agreement to help asylum-seekers.
The large group that arrived in Prospect Heights last October consisted mainly of families and included about 60 children.
Prospect Heights City Administrator Joe Wade said he was impressed by how the community - particularly Wheeling Township Elementary District 21 - welcomed the new arrivals and incorporated them into existing programs.
Though the impact on municipal resources was minimal, a Prospect Heights police officer took about 50 kids to a local park to play shortly after their arrival, Wade said. The Prospect Heights Park District donated soccer balls and other equipment for the children.
The IDHS spokesperson said the asylum-seekers that arrived last year have since moved to independent housing across the area, and the department's Illinois Welcoming Centers and the Immigrant Family Resource Program provide help to new arrivals.