Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said on Tuesday that the migrants staying at police stations in the city have created a “burden” for officers, The Associated Press reported.
The Chicago Police Department (CPD) currently hosts 3,000 total immigrants at its police stations throughout the city, with many migrants sleeping in close quarters on top of cardboard boxes or mattresses placed in the stations’ entryways, according to the AP.
Snelling, who became superintendent at the end of September, expressed concern that the number of migrants would deter crime victims who wanted to submit a police report at the station, and would also impact how well officers could continue to fight crime in Chicago.
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“We were the first to open our doors to the migrants and they’re still coming. And we have not turned them away,” Snelling told the AP. “But what we need are other people to step up in these situations because the burden has been on the police department to house people.”
“I do worry about the wellness of officers who see these conditions every single day because they’re concerned human beings,” he added.
Chicago has faced an influx of migrants in 2023, receiving 7,000 migrants from Texas alone and hosting over 13,000 total.
Residents and local politicians have criticized Democratic Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s efforts to host more migrants across the city in public buildings and empty schools.
Illegal immigration reached historic levels in fiscal year 2023, with Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents recording 1.8 million encounters with illegal immigrants between October 2022 and August.
CPD declined to comment further on the matter.
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