A Welcoming City: Chicago’s New Arrivals

🔎 Looking for our new arrival data dashboard? Review all new arrival data on Google Sheets.

Transparency and accountability in addressing Chicago’s forced migration crisis

Chicago has experienced an unprecedented and alarming surge of forced migration since August of 2022. Governor Abbott of Texas and other conservative leaders have sent nearly 40,000 asylum seekers to Chicago, without coordination or care for the humanity of those impacted. 

In a short period of time, forced migration from Texas has created a humanitarian crisis, which the City, community organizations, and mutual aid groups are all working to address. 

While the Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights (CIRR) does not have authority over the City’s operations regarding new arrivals, our goal is to provide transparency to the public about the City’s response to new arrivals, so that we and the public can hold the City accountable to its values. Through legislation and monthly hearings, we will continue to advocate for the City to expand its social infrastructure to provide increased resources and access for all Chicagoans, new and old, so that we can emerge from this crisis with a stronger social safety net.

New Arrivals Response

Below, you can browse information related to initiatives related to the new arrivals mission many with government funding in part or full.

• View the AirTable spreadsheet of these initiatives in a new window.

Further information and resources:

• City of Chicago’s New Arrivals Resources page.

New Arrivals Data

Each week, the Mayor’s Office updates Alders on the City’s response to new arrivals. In the spirit of transparency and accountability, the Committee for Immigrant and Refugee Rights compiles and publishes data received in those briefings on a weekly basis. The data includes the number of new arrivals (both weekly and cumulatively), their country of origin, as well as information on the shelters and landing zones.

• Review the Committee’s New Arrivals Data
• View the New Arrivals Situational Awareness Dashboard from the Mayor’s Office, for a summary of the data above.

*Please note that CIRR does not track or maintain data; the data below reflects what is shared with the Committee from the Mayor’s Office.

Below, you can see visualizations of some of the data we’ve collected.

Bussing activity

This chart reflects the number of buses that have arrived to Chicago from Texas on a weekly basis since September, 2023.

New arrival census chart

This chart reflects the number of new arrivals who are at staging areas—the temporary locations, e.g. police stations and airports, where new arrivals stay when shelters are not available—vs. new arrivals who are in the shelter system.

Map of shelter locations

Shelters, Staging Areas, and Landing Zones

The Shelter Exit Reporting Ordinance

In 2024, the Johnson Administration implemented a policy limiting new arrival shelter stays to 60 days. 60 day stays may be extended if new arrivals qualify for an exemption under certain criteria. Read the full City of Chicago Update on Limited Stay Shelter Policy.

In response to the Limited Stay Shelter Policy, Alder Vasquez introduced SO2024-0008386, the Shelter Exit Reporting Ordinance, which passed the full City Council and was adopted into law in April 2024. This ordinance directs the Department of Family and Support Services to provide City Council with reports of New Arrivals that have been evicted from city-operated shelters.

The ordinance requires weekly reporting of the total number of individuals removed from shelters due to the limited stay policy. Weekly reports must include the following data :

Additionally, the ordinance requires biweekly reporting of the total number of individuals at each shelter, including :

• the number and type of grievances filed by current shelter residents,
• the number and type of grievances resolved,
• the number of individuals admitted to shelter, and if they were previously removed as a result of the limited stay policy,
• the number of individuals exempt from removal under the limited stay policy, and
• number of individuals removed from shelter due to the limited stay policy, and their date of removal.

The Shelter Exit Reporting Ordinance also requires this data be published for the public to view. See all shelter exit data on Chicago’s Data Portal.

Shelter Exit Data Highlights

Chicago’s Data Portal allows users to easily analyze and visualize data. Below, find some visualizations of key data mandated by SO2024-0008386.