Chicago’s O’Hare Airport used as migrant shelter as crisis overwhelms city: ‘Like a scene from Mad Max’

Chicago leaders are facing backlash over hundreds of migrants being housed at O’Hare International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the country.

Chicago reporter William Kelly joined “Fox & Friends” on Thursday to discuss what the city has been through due to the influx of migrants.

More than 400 migrants are believed to be housed in a section of the airport, hidden from the public behind black curtains, up from 31 in early August.

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Kelly said the airport is one of 18 migrant shelters in Chicago and homeless Americans are no longer allowed to stay at the airport. The city previously struggled with an influx of homeless people at the airport, but launched a crackdown earlier this year after then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot faced criticism.

“Mayor Johnson campaigned as the people’s mayor. Unfortunately, people tell me he’s the migrant mayor,” Kelly said.

Kelly said he doesn’t believe the same security and background checks that Americans go through at airports apply to migrants. Meanwhile, the city continues to fight crime and recover from coronavirus-related lockdowns.

“Millions and millions of dollars are being spent on this migrant crisis. No one knows where that money is going or what it is being spent on.”

Kelly said he was unable to receive responses from the mayor.

“Unfortunately, Mayor Johnson had to take Mayor Lightfoot’s course at Harvard in Media Relations because he won’t answer my questions.”

Kelly described the crisis as “awful on every level”.

“One of Chicago’s migrant shelters is right across from my building on Michigan Avenue. So I look out the window, and it’s like a scene from Mad Max every day.

“It’s really a failure on all levels, the police are not able to monitor migrants and arrest violent criminals at the same time. And so the people of Chicago are suffering.”

Vianney Marzullo, a senior volunteer with the police station response team advocacy group, told the Chicago Sun-Times that O’Hare is only meant to be a waiting place for incoming flights.

According to the Daily Mail, Chicago continues to struggle to accommodate the influx of thousands of migrants into the city. About 14,000 migrants have been transported to Chicago by bus since August.

There are currently 15 shelters for asylum seekers across the city and another shelter is expected to open next month on the south side.

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