Volunteers and community organizations are stepping up to support migrants as Chicago sees an increase of migrants coming into the city.

More than 8,000 migrants have arrived since last summer when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott first started sending migrants to the city. However, citywide efforts are reaching a tipping point with limited resources and shelters at capacity.

“I’m blown away by what I’m seeing out there,” said Brittani James, medical director of the Inner-City Muslim Action Network. “We’re seeing people struggling just getting hydration, just getting water. We’re seeing high rates of infections.”

James and her medical team have started going to police stations to provide care for migrants who are staying there as city officials struggle to find them temporary housing. Officials said there are more than 300 migrants waiting in police stations across the city.

Erika Villegas, who’s based in Garfield Ridge, is also assisting migrants at police districts. She’s part of a grassroots effort consisting of volunteers throughout the city organizing to help migrants who are staying at police stations.

“The people sitting in police stations are people. They’re human,” Villegas said. “They’ve had, sometimes, years of trauma and months of challenges to get to this country, and we are a country of opportunity. We are a country that welcomes immigrants as many of our ancestors were.”

Ald. Byron Sigcho Lopez (25th Ward) said the federal government needs to act quickly to allocate and distribute funds to sanctuary cities. He also said the situation will get worse when Title 42 is lifted this month. The policy allowed border enforcement officials to turn away migrants during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

“There is now the responsibility to act in a humanitarian crisis as such, and stop playing with people’s lives,” Sigcho Lopez said.

Luisette Kraal runs a free store in Rogers Park where migrants can access food and clothes. The items are donated by people in the neighborhood. She said sometimes 100 newly arrived migrants will come to the store in one day.

“They come in and have nothing because when they cross the border, they have to leave everything behind,” Kraal said. “Some even their glasses, some even their hearing aids, they have to leave behind. So when they arrive, they have only the clothes on the back.”

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