Brighton Park community members rallied Thursday against Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan to build a “winterized base camp” for migrants on a vacant, privately owned lot in the area.

The Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) announced the cutoff date on Thursday, making good on a spring promise to limit membership in order to keep costs in check. Activists who want the program expanded rather than curtailed said that the move was expected but nonetheless disappointing.

“Any violent act against an elected official in our city is unacceptable and must be condemned in the strongest terms," Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement.

City officials have issued 150% more municipal ID cards so far in 2023 than in all of 2021 and 17% more than in all of 2022, according to city data.

The meeting will take place at 6 p.m. Oct. 24 at Kelly High School, 4136 S. California Ave. But Ald. Julia Ramirez (12th Ward) warned that it may already be a done deal – whether or not she objects.

Several alderpeople, from across the political spectrum, asked Budget Director Annette Guzman why the mayor set aside just $150 million in his spending plan to care for the migrants, even though that is less than half of what the city will have spent to care for Chicago’s newest arrivals through the end of 2023.

Johnson concluded his time was better spent in Chicago, grappling with the crisis that has strained the city’s social safety net and exposed deep tension between Chicago’s Black and Latino communities, officials said.  

More than 3,567 migrants are living in police stations across the city and at O’Hare International Airport with another 11,043 migrants living in city shelters as of Friday, according to city data. 

Mayor Brandon Johnson this week unveiled his $16.6 billion spending plan for 2024. Meanwhile, Illinois confirmed its first measles case since 2019, and Chicago’s theater community is facing multiple challenges.

“Chicago is a place strong enough to welcome and embrace newcomers while honoring our commitments to those who are already here, especially those who have long suffered disinvestment,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

Filipino American History Month in October puts a spotlight on the achievements of Filipino Americans, the stories of Filipino Americans throughout history and how that history is still felt today.

The escalating migrant crisis dominated political news in Chicago this week. Meanwhile, WTTW News investigated instances of Chicago Public Schools hiring fired Chicago police officers to work as security guards. Here are five stories you may have missed.

Officials are still scouting locations for the massive tents, which could shelter, feed and care for as many as 1,000 migrants in a single location.

The move is the latest effort to deal with swelling numbers of migrants as the Biden administration comes under increasing pressure from Republicans and mayors from the president’s own party to do more to slow arrivals.

It marked the latest in a series of contentious community meetings across the city as officials work to find housing for the influx of thousands of migrants being sent from the southern border.

Without naming GOP figures like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Pritzker blamed political leaders who “have shipped people to our state like cargo in a dehumanizing attempt to score political points.”