Several major cities have announced the use of airports as migrant shelters amid record-high border crossings. The decision by Chicago and Boston to utilize their extensive airports came after New York City used a former airfield for the same purpose.
Boston has been using Logan International Airport to house the migrants, while Chicago is utilizing O’Hare, which is one of the largest airports in the world.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) placed some of the blame on President Joe Biden, saying that his administration must “fix the border situation, to fix some of the asylum processes and to get much-needed funding to some of the interior states who have had to shoulder the burden for a problem that is geopolitical and is not the state’s making.”
Footage from O’Hare shows migrants sleeping in the airport. There are more than four dozen other sites in Chicago currently being used to house migrants, including police stations.
BREAKING: I received this from a source in O’Hare Airport in Chicago. Parts of the airport were sectioned off to house illegals. There were too many illegals and now they overflowed into the terminal area.
My source says they were mainly Hispanic men and he was asked not to… pic.twitter.com/Bo8sQWen2Y
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 10, 2024
New York City used a former airfield in Brooklyn, sparking significant protests. The use of Floyd Bennett Field became more controversial after the city announced this month that it would close James Madison High School in order to move the migrants from the airfield to the school. The students were forced to do remote learning during cold temperatures earlier in January.
Furthermore, New York has taken in more than 150,000 migrants in the past two years alone. Much of the pressure came after the 2023 announcement by the Biden administration that it was ending the Title 42 asylum program started under former President Donald Trump.
Following the large influx of migrants, other cities may soon face pressure from thousands of migrants. Detroit is reportedly the next major destination for the entry of illegal immigrants.
The news also came as a negotiated deal in the Senate regarding the border appears to be dead in the water. It is unlikely that the House will pass such a measure, which could increase border funding in exchange for allowing in thousands of migrants.
