How to Welcome New Neighbors to Chicago

Here are ways you can join us in welcoming migrant and asylum-seeking families, spread love without borders and keep Chicago an inclusive and sanctuary city.

• If you have experience with immigration law and policy, please contact us about assisting migrants and asylum-seekers in navigating the system. Effectively communicating with migrants and asylum-seekers to identify predatory texts and calls prevents them from being subject to a scheme or legal issues. 

• Make a gift towards our Postpartum Support Campaign. CRS is using donations to purchase essential care products (diapers, wipes, formula, winter clothing, etc.) as well as items needed for hospital discharge (like a carseat) for migrant and asylum-seeking families, especially mothers who recently gave birth.  

• Email us if you are willing to house migrants and asylum-seekers. With freezing temperatures and snowy weather, migrants and asylum-seekers are in urgent need of housing. Help migrant and asylum-seeking families stay warm and healthy by opening your heart and home.

• Fill out our Welcoming New Neighbors: Migrant & Asylum Advocacy Interest Form. Tell CRS you want to support our efforts in ensuring safe and just immigration. 

• Read our blog article on accessing resources for dealing with extreme weather and follow CRS on Facebook and Instagram for updates. 

Migrants and asylum are in need of basic necessities. Below you will find a list of recommended actions from organizations, community groups and legislators in Chicago offering aid.

• Organizations

  • American Friends Service Committee

• Articles

  • Venezuelans, Nicaraguans ask for protected immigration status 8/15/23

  • My Block, My Hood, My City Fundraising To Give 15,000 Sweatsuits To Venezuelan Migrants 8/24/23

  • Border Patrol once again puts migrants in outdoor San Ysidro camp with no bathrooms 9/12/23

  • Explainer: Here’s what you should know about Chicago’s response to the influx of migrants 09/22/23

  • 4 things you should know about changes to DACA 10/3/23

  • Isolated and afraid, pregnant migrants cobble together prenatal care any way they can 10/05/23

  • As migrant crisis grows will faith groups step up and offer unused buildings? 10/09/23

  • Chicago considers using Austin Avenue warehouse, office building to house migrants 10/23/23

  • Chicago Needs 18,000 Coats For Migrants. Here’s How You Can Help 10/23/24

  • Over protests, city officials confirm Brighton Park tent plan, pending final ‘assessments’ 10/24/23

  • My Block, My Hood, My City Fundraising To Give 15,000 Sweatsuits To Venezuelan Migrants 10/24/23

  • Organizers demand Oak Park, west suburbs support new migrant arrivals 10/24/23

  • Upcoming Ukrainian Village Migrant Shelter Will Now House Families, City Says 10/26/23

  • Chicago-area retiree opens her home to migrants — ‘new family members’ — stuck at police stations 10/26/23

  • Migrant Boy, 6, Hit By Driver Outside Of Police Station Tent Camp: ‘They Need A Place Inside’ 10/31/23

  • Fewer Migrants Are Sleeping In Police Stations As City Increases Shelter Capacity, Bus Arrivals Slow 11/15/23

  • Humanitarian relief for Sudanese refugees 11/15/23

  • Mayor Johnson begins process of kicking migrants out of city shelters; first ejections coming in January 11/17/23

  • City is changing its migrant arrivals playbook 11/27/23

  • Southeast Mutual Aid Helping Migrants, Neighbors Alike: ‘There Will Always Be A Need’ 11/29/23

  • OPINION: Blaming migrants for Chicago’s problems is a historical trend 11/30/23

  • Migrant tent shelter plans on pause 12/11/23

  • South Florida immigrant activists push Biden administration to approve work permits for migrants 12/13/23

  • The harrowing journeys of migrants are revealed in the quiet spaces of Chicago 12/14/23

  • Illinois NAACP president apologizes after likening migrants to ‘savages,’ rapists, burglars 12/14/24

  • Voters won’t get chance to weigh in on Chicago’s sanctuary city status, City Council decides 12/14/24

  • West Ridge Welcome Center Is A ‘One Stop Shop’ Where Immigrants Can Get Health Services, Education And More  12/15/23

  • Migrants Describe Inhumane Conditions At Chicago’s Largest Shelter 12/15/23

  • Death Of 5-Year-Old Migrant Boy Under Investigation As City Reaches ‘Critical Point’ In Crisis 12/20/23

  • In Uptown, Church And Migrants Sharing Space On College Campus Spend Holidays Together 12/21/23

  • At Vigil for 5-Year-Old Migrant Boy, Volunteers Warn Against More ‘Predictable’ Deaths 12/21/23

  • Johnson joins mayors of NY, Denver to call for migrant help: ‘This is not something that should break our country’ 12/27/23

  • Hundreds Of Migrants Sleeping In CTA Buses As City Braces For Winter Storm 1/9/24

  • City Again Delays Shelter Eviction Of Migrants As Volunteers Blast Plan 1/17/24

  • ‘Panic And Rumors’ Swirl In Chicago’s Migrant Shelters As Evictions Loom 1/22/24

  • Asylum-seekers in state-funded apartment in Chicago face rats and flooding 1/22/24

  • Migrant crisis: Chicago property owner opens vacant buildings to house nearly 500 asylum seekers 1/25/24

  • 60-Day Shelter Limit For Migrants Should Be Revoked, 16 Alderpeople Say In Letter To Mayor 1/26/24

  • Buona Beef-Connected Group Gets $45 Million Contract For Migrant Shelter Meals 1/26/24

  • Mayor Pushes Migrant Shelter Evictions To Spring After Backlash 1/29/24

  • 16-year-old asylum-seeker missing: CPD 1/29/24

  • Pilsen medical center that treats migrants is furloughing workers 2/1/24

  • El Árbol Mutual Aid Group Opens Free Store In Logan Square For Migrants, Neighbors 2/5/24

  • We are facing a migrant mental health crisis. More school social workers could help. 2/5/24

  • Chicago migrants are under pressure as deadline to find permanent housing looms 2/6/24

  • Another migrant dies near open-air detention sites in San Ysidro 2/7/24

  • The Vulnerability of Immigrant Communities in Weather-Related Disasters 2/8/24

  • ‘Everyday Chicagoans’ Can Help Migrants Through New Volunteer Program 2/9/24

  • Pritzker, Preckwinkle seek $250M more for Chicago’s migrant crisis — but no pledge from Johnson 2/15/24

  • Activists Demand End To City’s Migrant Shelter Eviction Policy, Set To Begin This Weekend 3/11/24

  • Chicago migrants face growing pressure as March 16 shelter-stay limit approaches 3/11/24

  • Chicago failed to take Catholic archdiocese up on offers to house migrants for free 3/12/24

  • With nearly 6,000 new migrants this year, CPS CEO pledges support as financial needs grow 3/19/24

  • Researchers link border wall height with increased trauma cases 3/18/24

  • Chicago City Council committee gives initial approval to $70 million more for migrants 4/15/24

  • Cook County has $20 million for the suburbs to help migrants. Most towns aren’t going for it. 4/16/24

  • Chicago: May Day march for Palestine prepares for protest at DNC 5/5/24

  • Migrants welcomed at newly opened shelter in former Catholic school on Northwest Side 6/11/24

  • With CPS On Summer Break, Migrants With School-Age Kids Must Start Leaving Shelters 6/11/24

  • How Migrant Kids Struggle In Segregated Chicago Schools: 5 Takeaways From Our Investigation 6/11/24

  • Migrants Welcomed To New Portage Park Shelter: ‘You’re Our Neighbors Now’ 6/12/24

  • A ‘forgotten or ignored war: Chicago-area Sudanese want us to care about homeland’s humanitarian crisis 6/15/24

  • What Colombia can teach Chicago about managing a migrant wave 6/16/24

  • As number of migrants in Chicago shelters decline, officials prepare for future arrivals 7/5/24

  • Low-income immigrants over 42 may need to renew their health insurance 7/5/24

  • From Immigration to Public Safety, What a Trump Victory Could Mean for Chicago 7/16/24

  • What another six years of a Maduro presidency in Venezuela means for migrants and Chicago 7/31/24

  • Global nonprofit steps in to run a migrant shelter in Chicago 8/16/24

  • Chicago Announces Plans to Close 3 Migrant Shelters as Fears of Renewed Surge Fade 9/10/24

  • City To Close Troubled Pilsen Migrant Shelter, 2 Others As Pace Of New Arrivals Slows 9/10/24

  • One Venezuelan migrant shares his story, from a tent city to the stage 9/27/24

  • For many immigrant students, school is their one safe place 10/9/24

  • Chicago Set to Spend 21% More to Fight Homelessness, But Shortage of Shelter Beds Looms 11/8/24

  • Advocates Push Back Against City’s New Shelter Approach for Migrants, Unhoused Chicagoans 11/14/24

• Statements

  • Hispanic Federation Rejects Biden’s Executive Order As Wrong And Misguided 6/4/24

  • RCUSA Condemns Biden Administration’s Executive Order Banning Asylum 6/5/24

  • World Relief Statement on President Biden’s Executive Order 6/7/24

  • Muslim Civic Coalition Condemns Biden’s Executive Order And Misguided Re-Election Strategy 6/8/24

• Take Action

  • TBA

• Petitions

  • Take action to stop border militarization

  • Tell Congress: Support a roadmap to citizenship for all immigrants

  • Sign the petition: Tell President Biden to restore the right to asylum!

• Donations

  • Purchase items off Instituto del Progreso Latino’s Amazon wishlist.

  • Donate to Park Community Church and Refugee Community Connection’s free store.

  • Donate new and gently used items at 40th Ward Alderman Andre Vasquez’s office. Find the list of requested items and a volunteer sign-up form here.

  • Donate to Organized Communities Against Deportation’s fundraising campaign, which will donate $300 cash contributions to families and individuals in need.

  • Donate to Albany Park Mutual Aid’s Support Asylum Seekers Fund, which will provide care kits to immigrants in the Albany Park Police District.

  • Donate items to Erie Neighborhood House, a social services nonprofit seeking donations of clothing and hygienic products.

Find more information here.

Additional Resources

• Contact The White House: Share your throughts with U.S. President Joe Biden

• Contact The White House: Share your thoughts with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris

• Check out our Global Solidarity blog articles and resources

• Hashtags to use on social media

  • #Palestine

  • #FreePalestine

  • #Gaza

  • #GazaGenocide

  • #GazaUnderAttack

  • #LetGazaLive

  • #Rafah

  • #RafahUnderAttack

  • #RafahMassacre

  • #CeasefireNOW

  • #Sudan

  • #SudanCrisis

  • #DontForgetSudan

  • #SupportSudan

  • #SaveSudan

  • #SudanSolidarity

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