Chicago’s 60-day shelter-stay limit has asylum seekers looking to find permanent housing in the area. A new privately funded apartment-style living arrangement has been in the works since October and could offer a solution.

The tally, which includes all invoices paid through Dec. 15, defies predictions released by city officials in mid-October that the cost of the migrant crisis to taxpayers would top $361 million by the end of 2023.

The Chicago City Council passed an ordinance allowing officials to impound buses bringing migrants to the city outside official hours and landing zones. It’s led multiple suburbs to follow in Chicago’s footsteps by passing similar emergency policies.

Nervous officials in suburbs and outlying cities near Chicago and New York are giving migrants arriving from the southern border a cold shoulder amid attempts to circumvent restrictions on buses in those two cities, opening a new front in response to efforts led by Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.

The last year was filled with plenty of big news. As a new year begins, here’s a look at the stories that will continue into 2024.

“We’re trying to put ourselves in the place of these families,” Haugan Elementary School principal Heather Yutzy said. “If we were in this situation, what would we need for our kids?”

The growth rate for the United States in the past year was 0.53%, about half the worldwide figure. The U.S. added 1.7 million people and will have a population on New Year's Day of 335.8 million people.

The United States has given clear signs, including temporarily closing key border rail crossings into Texas, that it wants Mexico to do more to stop migrants hopping freight cars, buses and trucks to the border.

The comments came during a joint online press conference Wednesday afternoon with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson,  New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston.

Elected officials and community leaders are demanding federal aid to help address the needs of Chicago’s migrants. This plea follows the death of 5-year-old Jean Carlos Martinez Rivero — who was living at a migrant shelter in Pilsen.

As the Senate broke for the holidays, due back Jan. 8, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in a rare joint statement indicated negotiations are progressing. 

Jean Carlos Martinez was a resident at a warehouse retrofitted as a shelter in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood when he suffered a medical emergency, the city said. He was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at a hospital Sunday afternoon.

Two people, identified as “handlers” in the police log, fled the private plane transporting migrants Tuesday evening and “jumped into an Uber” before they could be questioned by officers, according to police.

The holiday celebration hosted by New Life Centers involved a gift and free jacket giveaway, food, music and children’s character mascots.

According to Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Department of Public Health, the cause of death for Jean Carlos Martinez Rivero, 5, remains under investigation, but it’s not connected to three other children who were hospitalized from the shelter Monday.

A Chicago police spokesperson said an investigation is underway, but it does not appear as though the boy’s death was criminal in nature.