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Chicago's migrant crisis sparks chaos as homeless population swells by 200% in just one year
Chaos has worsened in Chicago as the homeless population has swelled three times the amount in just one year as migrants continue to move to the Windy City.
The city's annual snapshot, released on Friday, revealed that 18,836 people are homeless in Chicago in 2024, compared to 6,139 in 2023 - amounting to a staggering 200 percent increase in total.
The unhoused population under the term 'sheltered new arrivals' was counted on January 25 as 13,679, while there were 212 'unsheltered new arrivals' recorded.
Shockingly, the 212 unsheltered new arrivals - meaning people sleeping on the streets - is a 960 percent uptick from 2023, when the number was just 20.
A total of 1,422 'unsheltered non-new arrivals' were recorded, along with 3,523 'sheltered non-new arrivals.' The amount of non-asylum seekers on the city's streets has increased by 25 percent when compared to last year's total of 3,943.
The homeless population in Chicago has grown three times more than it was in 2023 with a total of 18,836 counted as of January 2024
Migrants have taken over the city's streets as 13,679 were counted as homeless 'sheltered new arrivals' while 212 were counted as homeless 'unsheltered new arrivals'
Of the 200 percent increase in homelessness in the city, 30 percent were children under the age of 18, the Chicago Sun Times reported.
Since 2022, Chicago has also been receiving busses of migrants from the southern border, sent by Texas officials, amid the surging national crisis.
Maura McCauley, managing deputy commissioner for the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services, said that the city has attempted to resettle more than 43,000 migrants.
'Those things have been happening together. One didn't stop in order to serve another population,' McCauley told the Chicago Sun Times.
According to the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, a person experiencing homelessness has been defined as someone who 'lacks a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence.'
Prior to the migrant crisis, the number of people experiencing homelessness on a single night was gradually lowering. It did rise again in 2020, but trickled back down in 2021 and 2022.
McCauley said the recent uptick has occurred because COVID-19 pandemic support has ended.
'We really think that’s because pandemic era supports, like SNAP benefits and stimulus resources from the state and federal government, came to an end, between 2022 and 2023. And the Chicago housing market has become less and less affordable,' McCauley said.
'We were anticipating this increase, but we also at the same time increased our shelter capacity more than five times. And if we hadn’t done that, we really think that we would have seen a really unprecedented and tragic increase in our unsheltered population,' she added.
The city's annual snapshot, released on Friday, revealed that 18,836 people are homeless in Chicago in 2024, compared to 6,139 in 2023
Johnson has long been in the hot seat for the migrant crisis that has taken over Chicago. In April, livid Chicagoans tore into Johnson for allotting $70million to migrant care
According to a city report, when the homeless population was counted at the start of the year, 9,165 beds for permanent housing were recorded, while 2,979 beds for rapid housing and 304 beds for other permanent housing were counted.
McCauley said that the intense spike in homelessness shows how much the city needs more federal resources to aid the issue.
Of more than 900 migrants that were evicted from city shelters, about 55 percent of them have continued to live in facilities, officials told WTTW News.
Mayor Brandon Johnson, who has been in the center of the massive migrant crisis, started to enforce limits on how long migrants can stay in shelters.
His administration mandated that migrants had 60 days to reside in city-run shelters after many of them arrived on buses from the Texas border.
Department of Family and Support Services Commissioner, Brandie Knazze, said that city officials do 'not expect a mass exit from shelters' because a 'number of extensions remain in place and shelter exit dates are staggered according to when individuals entered the shelter.'
'The city of Chicago continues to maintain one of the most generous shelter stay policies for asylum seekers of any major city in the United States,' Knazze said.
She added that all residents have the ability to 're-enter temporary shelter sites' if they cannot find secure housing after being kicked out.
According to the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, a person experiencing homelessness has been defined as someone who 'lacks a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence'
Frustrated citizens have been left confused about the newly released statistics, as one claimed that Mayor Johnson announced that there were more than 68,000 migrants in the city just three months ago.
'City's official count is 18.8k, inclusive of 13.6k sheltered migrants. Lying about statistics doesn't build trust,' someone posted on X in response to the data.
Johnson has long been in the hot seat for the migrant crisis that has plagued Chicago.
In April, livid Chicagoans tore into Johnson for allotting $70million to migrant care.
Concerned citizens spoke directly to the mayor during a gathering where officials were originally expected to vote on funding for migrant services in the Windy City.
Johnson, a progressive, has long defended the city's sanctuary policies and he planned to get the aldermen to accept the requested funds, even though the city has already invested $300million on the crisis.
One woman, dressed in a red MAGA cowboy hat and a 'Chicago RED' t-shirt slammed Johnson and said: 'We need that money in my neighborhood, we need that money on my block.'
'So I'm asking ya'll to use our tax money for our people, we need it,' she added.
However, the meeting ended without a vote as the city's aldermen deferred a decision on the request for funds.
It was recently found that Johnson managed to burn through $30,000 on personal grooming in one year, with most of the money being spent on makeup.
To pay for makeup and hair appointments, Johnson used the money his supporters contributed to his Friends of Brandon Johnson campaign fund.
Most of the $30,000 went to Denise Milloy, a makeup artist and self-professed 'skincare enthusiast' who operates on the south side of the city.
The rest of the sum- $4,000- was spent on hair appointments at a beauty salon.
Between 2023 and 2024, Johnson made more than 30 payments to Milloy's 'Makeup Majic'.
The payments that preceded the mayor's election are listed under headings like: 'Candidate makeup for TV,' 'Makeup retainer,' 'Candidate makeup,' and 'Candidate makeup for debate.'
However, after Johnson was elected, his payments to 'Makeup Majic' have fallen under the vague and generic title of 'campaign expenses.'