It was only a matter of time before wandering asylum-seekers made their way north from Texas, via Chicago, into Lake County. With the increasing numbers of migrants being bused into the big city, the suburbs eventually would become destinations.
Hopefully, those arriving here weren’t shanghaied or victims of impressment, that practice used by the Royal Navy prior to the War of 1812 forcing Americans to become British sailors. Regardless, a few thousand are now making their homes in the county, either temporarily or permanently.
More, lots more, are expected. Chicago is nearing 20,000 newcomers, and buses full of migrants from states on the Southern border arrive daily. The same is happening in other so-called “sanctuary” states, such as California and New York.
Windy City officials are calling the influx a “humanitarian crisis,” and are spending crucial funding to house the newcomers, who are mainly from Venezuela and Columbia, but also Central American nations like El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Gov. Greg Abbott, the Texas Republican, first began shipping asylum-seekers to Chicago in August 2022.
So where will the first military-style, hard-covered tents be sited in Lake County to house what is the growing tide of aliens? My guesses are in Waukegan, the Round Lake area, Zion and/or Gurnee.
Waukegan and the Round Lake area make sense for the giant white yurts Chicago officials want to place in neighborhoods across their city in lieu of housing migrants in police stations and at O’Hare International Airport. The buildings remind some of the Hoovervilles erected during the Great Depression and named for President Herbert Hoover; that Bears Bubble the football team erected off Route 43 in Waukegan back in the day for use as a practice facility; or the temporary gaming casino at Fountain Square in Waukegan.
Waukegan has plenty of space for the base-camp “tents,” like on the city’s north side along the Lake Michigan shoreline. That property would be available if the Bears decline the offer made this summer by Waukegan officials who dream of the team relocating to the city.
Waukegan also has the support structure for new Hispanic residents, as does the Round Lake area. Both communities have large numbers of Hispanic residents. Waukegan has an established Honduran population.
A News-Sun front-page story authored by Steven Sadin late last month detailed the increasing numbers of new migrants making their way into Lake County. Perhaps it is just the beginning of a new wave seeking a better life in the suburbs.
“A trickle became many in June and July,” a spokesman for HACES, a not-for-profit immigrant service organization headquartered on Waukegan’s North Side, told Sadin. “First it was four, then a few more and suddenly it was 20 at once.”
Who wouldn’t want to trade overcrowded conditions in Chicago’s 25 shelters for the utopia of Lake County? The group has aided nearly 1,000 newcomers since the Texas crush began.
Similarly, Mano a Mano based in Round Lake Park, has helped more than 400. While housing and jobs are priorities, so far this year Waukegan Unit School District 60 has enrolled 431 students, children of the newcomers, a school spokesman said.
As Lake County accepts rising numbers of asylum-seekers, the area will be coping on a smaller scale with what we’ve seen in Chicago. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has begged the administration of President Joe Biden to accelerate aid to the state to help pay for the burgeoning number of newcomers, who eventually will have to prove they are truly asylum-seekers or just coming here for jobs.
Indeed, Pritzker last week blamed the migrant crisis on the president. “Most critically, the federal government’s lack of intervention and coordination at the border has created an untenable situation for Illinois,” he said.
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The state has spent about $330 million of taxpayer money on the new arrivals, according to the governor. Chicago officials expect their costs to be an estimated $363 million by the end of the year, squeezing sketchy city finances.
That amount of money being spent — Lake County so far has received about $1 million in state money — on newcomers is a source of friction between underserved communities and supporters of aid to the asylum-seekers. The same could happen here if newcomer numbers continue to rise unabated.
A few are even questioning the compassionate “welcoming” status of Illinois. They wonder if the amount of money being spent taking care of the new immigrants is worth the trouble of being in a sanctuary state where future finances remain vague.
It is a debate which may unfold in higher volumes as additional asylum-seekers make their way into Lake County and other suburbs. Solutions need to come faster than immigrants.
Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor.
sellenews@gmail.com.
