Catholic Charities flights lead to surging number of migrants at O’Hare

Asylum-seeker Alberto Davila, 28, looks at his daughter, Maria Davila, 1, as her mom Andrea Peña, 27, watches inside a waiting area for shuttles near O’Hare International Airport’s Terminal 2, where they have been taking shelter this month. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)

When Alberto Davila, a new immigrant from Venezuela, was given plane tickets last month to come to Chicago from San Antonio, Texas, a long stay in O’Hare Airport isn’t what he and his family were told to expect.

“What a surprise this was,” Davila said, looking around at the hundreds of people sleeping head-to-toe at O’Hare. “I thought we’d be at a shelter, a stable place where we could work and our kids could get an education.”