Activists demand funding for existing Chicago residents as city focuses on migrant crisis

-- THE SOUTH AND WEST SIDE HOMEOWNERS ARE ANGRY. THEY BELIEVE THE CITY HAS OVEREXTENDED ITSELF AND SHOULD BE PUTTING THE MONEY EARMARKED FOR MIGRANTS INTO CHICAGO'S VULNERABLE NEIGHBORHOODS. >> THE SOUTH SIDE HAS BEEN UNDER RESOURCED FOR YEARS, FOR DECADES. WE HAVE SCHOOLS THAT NEED TO BE REOPENED. WE HAVE BUILDINGS THAT ARE ABANDONED, THAT NEED TO BE BUSINESS OPERATED. REPORTER: THE GROUP SAYS THE CITY HAS ABANDONED ITS PROGRAM, PROMISING TO ALIGN $2.2 BILLION. THE CITY HAS RECEIVED MORE THAN 15,000 MIGRANTS SINCE AUGUST 2022. >> WE HAVE NO MORE ROOM. REPORTER: ACCORDING TO ANALYSIS, THERE ARE MORE THAN 20 ACTIVE MIGRANT SHELTERS ACROSS THE CITY. >> WHETHER IT IS ONE SHELTER OR 10, WE ARE SAYING THE FACILITIES THAT ARE THERE FOR US, THE MONEY NEEDS TO BE PUT INTO THOSE FACILITIES. REPORTER: IN A STATEMENT FROM THE MAYOR'S OFFICE, A SPOKESPERSON SAYS, WE ARE COMMITTED TO INVESTMENT FOR ALL RESIDENTS, BUT ESPECIALLY COMMUNITIES ON THE SOUTH AND WEST SIDES THAT HAVE LONG EXPERIENCE DISINVESTMENT. >> MAYOR JOHNSON, THE ALDERMAN AND OLDER WOMEN, WE WILL STAND FOR THE BLACK CITIZENS OF CHICAGO. REPORTER: THE CITY SAYS MAYOR JOHNSON KNOWS FIRSTHAND THE IMPACT OF NEGLECT AND WILL NEVER STOP INVESTING IN ALL PEOPLE. OBVIOUSLY, YOU ARE HEARING THE MAYOR SAID THAT THE CITY HAS BIG ENOUGH SHOULDERS TO HANDLE ALL OF THE NEIGHBORHOODS AS WELL AS THE NEW ARRIVALS. THE PEOPLE YOU HEARD FROM BELIEVE OTHERWISE AND OUR

Channel: ABC 7 Chicago

Views: 112,431

Keywords: news, chicago migrant crisis, invest south/west, chicago south side, chicago west side, black community, black housing, affordable housing, mayor brandon johnson, mirgant housing, new arrivals

Id: 5MxmMgP4_zU

Length: 2min 39sec (159 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 28 2023