Migrants sheltering at 5 city parks to be moved

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Migrants staying at temporary shelters at five city parks will soon be moved into different shelters, after nearly a year of protests from community members, the mayor’s office announced Monday.

On Saturday, work will begin to transition the migrants to nearby shelters from the five Chicago Park District locations: Brands Park, the Broadway Armory Park, Gage Park, Leone Park and Piotrowski Park. The process will take several weeks, according to a news release.

An unplanned visit to a small news conference held by Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th) at the Gage Park Fieldhouse brought Julio Ocampo from his home down the street.

“This man has made my day,” said Ocampo to a crowd of people. “I cannot believe it. He has made my day. I was coming in here to argue but now I'm happy. I've never had as many issues that I've had in the last six months.”

Ocampo proceeded to hug Lopez three times throughout his speech detailing complaints he has with the migrants in his neighborhood.

The Gage Park resident, who came to America at age four, accuses migrants of smoking and drinking, taking up parking spots and receiving “handouts.”

“It's not because we're anti-immigrant; it’s because we are neighborhood oriented. We protect our neighborhood,” he said.

Others aren’t in the neighborhood aren’t celebrating yet. Juana Galon doesn’t believe that her community park will return to normal.

“If they don't have a job, they don't have a safe place to be. They will be here,” Galon said.

Ariana Avonce, 26, says she and other nearby residents are "skeptical" about the future for migrants.

“This is a step in the right direction. However, like I mentioned, we're still skeptical until we see results,” Avonce said. “I think it's important that we have this conversation about illegal immigration. Because yes, we might remove them from the fieldhouse, but then we're still gonna move them elsewhere and it's going to be another neighborhood's problem.”

Last weekend, residents in the Gage Park area protested the continued shelter of migrants in the Gage Park Fieldhouse, as Mayor Brandon Johnson’s shelter eviction plan began.

Once the migrants have moved to other shelters, the Park District will begin work making any repairs or doing maintenance, the mayor’s office said.

Park District facilities first became migrant shelters in May of 2023. Protests soon followed, though people in some communities reached out to support them.

“We as a community have opened our doors and our hearts to our new neighbors," said Ald. Mike Rodriguez (22nd) in the Monday release. "Little Village residents are excited to return to Piotrowski Park and to be able to access all the programming it offers."

“City departments will work to ensure a smooth transition with the least disruption to shelter residents and the community as possible,” according to the news release.