West Town residents sue city of Chicago over proposed migrant shelter

West Town residents sue Chicago over proposed migrant shelter

The lawsuit claims city officials are bending the rule of law by allowing 200 migrants to take shelter in a West Town building.

CHICAGO - Two West Town residents are challenging the city's plan to house 200 migrants at a building in their neighborhood with a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

The complaint names the city of Chicago, elected and appointed officials and the owner of the industrial building at 526 N Western Avenue that the city wants to use as a shelter.

The lawsuit draws comparison to previous waves of immigration in Chicago.

"In the more than a century and a half of immigration into West Town and Chicago, immigration has not been used as a rationale for a municipal government executive to wield 'emergency' powers depriving current citizens and residents of rights under the law," the lawsuit states.

It is alleged that the city is waving ordinances to allow the migrants to move into the West Town building on Western Avenue. The claim says that the industrial building is currently zoned as a C1-2, which only allows for retail on the ground floor with a maximum of seven 700 square foot living units above.

Cornelius McKnight of McKnight & Kitzinger is representing the residents in this lawsuit.

The complete lawsuit is attached below: