For the first time in eight months, police stations across the city were empty of men, women and children sent to Chicago from the nation’s southern border, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office announced.

The final migrants to be moved into one of 27 city-run shelters was a group of approximately 100 people who had been living at the 12th District Police Station in Pilsen, city officials said.

“We’re grateful for every shelter, faith leader and anyone who has allowed us to move new arrivals off the floors of police stations, but we know more space is needed,” said Ronnie Reese, Johnson’s spokesperson. “We’re still moving with urgency to find more temporary housing for asylum seekers, especially as the winter months approach.”

Johnson had vowed to clear the police districts by the start of winter, which officially begins Thursday.

Another 29 people were living at O’Hare as of Sunday morning, according to city data.

When Johnson took office, hundreds of people sent to Chicago on buses paid for by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott were already living at police stations. Days before leaving office, former Mayor Lori Lightfoot declared an emergency, saying Chicago was confronting a “humanitarian crisis.”

The number of migrants sent to Chicago surged during Johnson’s first six months in office, overwhelming the city’s ability to care for them, breaking the city’s social safety net and exacerbating deep tension between Black, Latino and Asian Chicagoans.

Johnson promised in July to move the migrants, who are all in the United States legally after requesting asylum, out of the police stations and into what he called more dignified living conditions. However, Johnson failed to deliver on that promise as dozens of buses arrived every week, further overwhelming the city’s already broken shelter system

The number of migrants living at police stations peaked at 3,890 on Oct. 16, before the number of buses began to slow with the onset of cold, wet weather.

Since August 2022, 600 buses have arrived in Chicago, carrying nearly 26,000 people, nearly all of them who fled economic collapse and political turmoil in Central and South America. More than 80% have arrived after Johnson was inaugurated, according to city data.

Nearly 14,000 migrants are living in city shelters. They must move out after 60 days, with the first group facing eviction notices in early January.

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | [email protected] | (773) 569-1863