As freezing temperatures continue to grip most of the United States, with more than 142 million people under a wind chill alert on Tuesday, many cities have taken temporary measures regarding sheltering migrants to avoid leaving them on the streets while dealing with strained capacity at the same time.
The focus has been on New York, Chicago and Denver, some of the sanctuary cities that have seen the largest influxes of migrants and whose authorities have pleaded for assistance from the Biden administration claiming their situations are not sustainable.
Chicago, where evictions had been scheduled to begin this week, temporarily suspended its new 60-day shelter limit because of the freezing temperatures. The measure has been postponed until January 22, when the weather is set to warm up somewhat.
"To be clear, we're not evicting new arrivals out into the cold," Johnson said, once again pleading for additional help from state and federal officials and thanking mutual aid groups that have mobilized to care for the migrants, according to Wttw News. "We will continue to reevaluate this situation and prioritize safety," added Department of Family and Support Services Commissioner Brande Knazze.
City Mayor Brandon Johnson also appealed to the "humanity" of Texas governor Greg Abbott, whose "Lone Star" operation has been sending buses filled with migrants to sanctuary cities for months now.
However, he was also extremely critical of the governor, especially when talking about a recent statement in which he said that Texas authorities are not "not shooting people who come across the border because, of course, the Biden administration would charge us with murder." Johnson said Abbott was "not right in the head."
Moreover, Axios reported that Denver has not been enforcing its its 14-day shelter limit for migrant adults and that supplemental cold weather shelters are set to be open through Jan. 19.
The outlet had reported on January 10 that the city was scrambling to make room in its shelters for migrants sleeping in tents as the temperatures were about to drop drastically, adding that most had little to no experience with these temperatures and were ill-prepared to deal with them.
New York City, on its end, said that new arrivals had maxed out shelter limits, but a spokesperson for the Eric Adams administration said that no family who applied to remain in shelter longer had been rejected.
The challenge, however, extends to almost all of the country as these temperatures are impacting most of the territory. Axios explains that "historically, most migrants attempting to cross the border have had family or friends already in the U.S.," but this is no longer the case for many, potentially endangering the lives of thousands arriving in the country.
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