'I'm scared': Gage Park residents push for migrant shelter's closure

CHICAGO - It's been six months since migrants first moved into a Chicago Park District facility in Gage Park, and on Tuesday night, residents met to discuss how much longer they'll be living there.

From the start, the Office of Mayor Brandon Johnson has stated the migrant shelters they have established are 'temporary' – but residents want more details.

Tuesday's meeting, held at Talman Elementary School, was called by 15th Ward Alderman Ray Lopez.

In June, Lopez volunteered the Gage Park Fieldhouse as a shelter to help get migrants off police station floors. Now, 
he says it's time to turn the facility back over to the community.

"We stepped up when nobody else was willing, and I am thankful to Gage Park for bearing with us in that moment, but now it's everyone else's turn to do the same," said Lopez.

Currently, about 400 men and women are living at the site – nearly double what it was intended for. Plus, Lopez says utilizing the space came with three conditions – that it would be temporary, remain safe, and stay healthy for both migrants and community members.

"When you have a 5-year-old boy whose life was lost, when you have numerous young children who are sick and ill, and it's questionable whether or not we're even providing the most basic of medical care, who's going to give them sanctuary from these bad decisions," said Lopez.

The young child who died on Sunday, Jean Carlos Martinez Rivero, was living at a migrant shelter in Pilsen and suffered a medical emergency, according to the mayor's office. His autopsy is still pending, but city officials said, "the child does not appear to have died from an infectious disease, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health, and there is no evidence of an outbreak at the shelter."

The tragedy has led many to question whether the City of Chicago and Cook County are providing migrants with adequate access to healthcare. 
  
On Monday, three children and one adult were transported to area hospitals with high fevers from the Halsted Street shelter in Pilsen. City officials said those cases were unrelated to Martinez Rivero's death. Still, Lopez fears similar medical concerns are possible at other shelters, too, including Gage Park.

In addition to health concerns, residents, during Tuesday's meeting, sounded the alarm about what they've witnessed since the shelter was established in the 2400 block of West 55th Street.

"We've seen people doing things in the park that are illegal," said Lawrence Jones, community member. "This is a very real concern, I don't think you guys are aware of the problem."

Jones, who lives just steps away from the fieldhouse, says he's witnessed drug deals, prostitution, littering, and more.

"I'm scared that if we go away for the weekend, that somebody is going to break into my house and steal the things I've worked so very hard for in my life," said Jones.

Lopez invited Mayor Brandon Johnson and his team to Tuesday evening's meeting. Johnson was not in attendance, but his Deputy Mayor of Immigrant, Migrant and Refugee Rights – Beatriz Ponce de Leon – was there.

"The very, very vast majority are people that are just here to work and build a life, they are not committing crimes," said Ponce de Leon.

The mayor's office reports they've issued 175 migrants at the Gage Park shelter with 60-day exit notices – a measure announced last month.

Still, constituents who attended Tuesday's meeting want to ensure that as migrants move out, new arrivals won't be moving in, with some saying the lack of access to the park facility has taken a toll. While other arrangements have been made for the youth teams that practice at the fieldhouse, some residents say those alternatives are farther away and more costly.