Welcome to Chicago.
For more than a year, the State of Texas has bused asylum seekers (most of them from Venezuela) to our city, which has an imperfect but long-standing history of welcoming new arrivals. To many of the families who have come in recent months, what they have encountered here must seem like a cruel joke.
In communities across Chicago, a vocal subset of residents have made it crystal-clear they do not want asylum seekers housed in their neighborhoods. Impassioned, angry and even violent exchanges have taken place at public forums in response to proposals to house new arrivals in this or that location.
The latest flash point is right in our backyard: a former heavy industrial site at 38th and California in Brighton Park, where the city is planning to build a base camp of “winterized tents.” Ever since work crews arrived late last week, protesters have been up in arms. They’ve gathered near the site to express fears that asylum seekers would lower property values, resort to crime and otherwise degrade the quality of life on the Southwest Side.
It is heartbreaking that our neighbors, and people across our city, are responding in this manner. That we are giving asylum seekers every legitimate reason to fear us even as we profess to fear them. But it is not inevitable. We really can live up to our promise of being a welcoming city and build something that will benefit everybody in the process.
The first step is to stop thinking of asylum seekers as a drain on our limited resources. Yes, new arrivals have an immediate need for basic necessities like food, clothing and shelter. And when Chicagoans hear about our city spending hundreds of millions of dollars, it is natural to wonder why that money can’t be invested in our long-neglected neighborhoods.
But asylum seekers are not simply passive recipients of aid. In our frequent visits to the 8th District Police Headquarters, the most frequent question we get (by far) is, “Do you know where I can find work?” Under the right circumstances, these families will contribute far more to our city than they receive, and we will all be richer for having them here.
The second step is to simply recognize the humanity of our new neighbors. We suspect many of the angriest Chicagoans have never actually had an extended conversation with an asylum seeker from Venezuela. It is an eye-opening experience, and one that will quickly change your perspective.
Provide benefits for all
Ever since our city started housing migrants at police stations — a policy failure if ever there was one — a group of roughly 10 Southwest Side volunteers (and countless generous donors) has come together to help those housed at the 8th District on 63rd Street.
The conditions new arrivals are subject to are simply inexcusable. They receive two meals a day, which are often just rice (volunteers provide a third meal). Those who cannot be housed in the station because of space are made to sleep outside (and winter is coming). Earlier this summer, bathroom access was limited to a single port-a-potty. And increasingly, opportunists will roll by with promises of work, only to assault or rob an asylum seeker.
Our group does what it can, from supplying essentials like clothing and toiletries to offering a free group counseling session for adults (and art therapy session for kids) once a week that includes a hot meal and, if nothing else, an opportunity to vent. It is through this work that we have come to know many of our new neighbors, and to recognize the enormous potential they have to transform our city for the better.
Finally, we need to stop seeing the needs of asylum seekers as distinct from the rest of Chicago. They need shelter. We all need shelter. They need jobs. We all need jobs. They need safe streets, reliable public transportation and clean air. Who doesn’t? We can serve the immediate needs of our new neighbors in a way that builds permanent infrastructure (like housing) that benefits our city as a whole.
Too many of us have been conditioned to think of asylum seekers in the worst possible light. But their future cannot be separated from our future. As more buses arrive, we need to embrace the fact that we are all in this together. The sooner we do that, the sooner we can build something truly special, together.
Jaime Groth Searle is the founder and executive director of The Southwest Collective and a resident of Archer Heights. Adriana Vargas is vice president of the board of The Southwest Collective and a resident of Gage Park.
The Sun-Times welcomes letters to the editor and op-eds. See our guidelines.
The views and opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Chicago Sun-Times or any of its affiliates.
