Work is underway at a base camp for migrants in Brighton Park on Dec. 1, 2023. (WTTW News)

Construction began earlier this week in Brighton Park on the massive tents that will house at least some of the more than 1,000 migrants living in police stations across the city and at O’Hare Airport.

Work is underway at a base camp for migrants in Brighton Park on Nov. 28, 2023. (WTTW News)

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration cites “procurement delays” by Chicago as the reason for the shortfall, and says that the city in January will assume the responsibility of making sure migrants are fed, according to a news release.

Volunteers with the Ojala Foundation distribute food. (WTTW News)

Winter in Chicago can be brutal, and it can be even worse for those experiencing homelessness. A Latino Muslim organization is coming together to help those in need on the city’s Southwest Side.

(WTTW News)

“The imminent addition of significant new shelter space,” means the Amundsen Park field house is no longer needed as a migrant shelter, Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

Mayor Brandon Johnson looks on as Grace and Peace Church Pastor John Zayas speaks about efforts to help shelter the 1,250 migrants sleeping at Chicago police stations and at O’Hare International Airport on Nov. 28, 2023. (Heather Cherone / WTTW News)

Mayor Brandon Johnson touted what he called the “Unity Initiative” as his city officials announced that crews will start building the frame of a winterized base camp to shelter as many as 2,000 people near 38th Street and California Avenue as soon as Wednesday.

Protesters stand at the entrance of a Brighton Park lot that will eventually be used as a base camp for migrants arriving in Chicago on Nov. 27, 2023. (WTTW News)

While the shelters will be a part of the city’s shelter system, state funds will be used to build the facilities, operate the shelter and provide services, including conflict resolution. There are now nearly 12,800 migrants in city-run shelters, an all-time high.

Immigrants who have been in the U.S. for years, rally asking for work permits for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and Temporary Protected Status (TPS), programs at Franklin Park in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023. (AP Photo / Jose Luis Magana)

Across the country, mayors, governors and others have been forceful advocates for newly arrived migrants seeking shelter and work permits. Their efforts and existing laws have exposed tensions among immigrants who have been in the country for years, even decades, and don’t have the same benefits.

A vacant lot at 38th Street and California Avenue in the Brighton Park neighborhood is the proposed site of a winterized base camp for migrants. (WTTW News)

Ald. Julia Ramirez (12th Ward) said Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office informed her late Friday that work would begin Monday on the base camp over her objections and after the discovery of “toxic metals” on the site.

Migrants outside a Chicago police station. (WTTW News)

The new policy could mean more than 3,000 people will lose their beds in city shelters by early February, with the rest forced out by April.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker addresses the news media. (Andrew Adams / Capitol News Illinois)

With Congress unwilling to act, Illinois has no chance to step in because lives are at stake, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said.

Migrants are sleeping in tents outside Chicago police stations. (WTTW News)

The announcement represents Mayor Brandon Johnson’s first attempt to reduce the city resources available to the migrants currently in the city’s shelter system.

(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

A key vote by the Chicago City Council’s Rules Committee could come as soon as Thursday on a measure that would ask voters during the March primary whether Chicago should remain a sanctuary city.

(WTTW News)

The Biden administration has started to grant temporary protected status to almost 500,000 Venezuelan migrants who are already in the country — quickly making them eligible to work. Meanwhile, advocates are pushing for work permits for more than 180,000 undocumented immigrants in Chicago who have been in the city much longer.

Each morning, a group of volunteers and migrants sheltering at Luther Memorial Church in Lincoln Square prepare meals and hot coffee to go. (WTTW News)

There are still more than 3,000 migrants living in or around Chicago’s police stations and airports. As the city struggles with how to find temporary shelter for everyone, Mayor Brandon Johnson has called on places of worship to assist.

Earlier this year, the Biden administration announced plans to expand health care coverage to those enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. But the proposed change has yet to be finalized, leaving thousands of young adults who were brought to the U.S. as children in limbo.

A vacant lot at 38th Street and California Avenue in the Brighton Park neighborhood is the proposed site of a winterized base camp for migrants. (WTTW News)

Approximately 1,500 men, women and children are sleeping in thin tents outside police stations across the city, officials said.