Embattled Kenwood shelter housing migrants and homeless Chicagoans to close in coming months
Located at 4900 S. DuSable Lake Shore Drive, the shelter opened in summer 2023 to accommodate migrants sent to Chicago by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Its opening drew sharp pushback from residents concerned about how newcomers from crisis-affected regions would integrate into the neighborhood.
Tensions deepened when the facility was expanded in late December 2024 to include homeless Chicagoans, part of the city and state's One System Initiative aimed at merging shelter services for both populations. According to the state, the shelter currently holds 94 families and over 330 individuals.
Early months of combined migrant, homeless shelters in Chicago see success, structural challenges
Peters said he was notified of the closure by city and Illinois Department of Human Services officials at 3:15 p.m. Friday. Those currently housed at the shelter will move to new facilities over the next three to six months, he said.
The state directed questions regarding the future plans and timelines for the shelter to the city, but Chicago officials didn't immediately provide comment Friday afternoon regarding the reason for the closure.
'We've always believed that housing is a human right,' Peters said. 'But also, at the end of the day, what matters most is being transparent with everybody.'
As tens of thousands of people arrived by bus over roughly two years, the city and state scrambled to open enough shelters to stave off a full-blown homelessness crisis in Chicago. The city and state were running 28 migrant-exclusive facilities at the peak of arrivals in January of last year, according to city census data.
The idea of a combined system was championed by some who said it would spread out resources to a wider range of people. There are dozens of shelters in the new system.
The closure announcement also comes as President Donald Trump has ramped up immigration enforcement in and around the city, targeting courts and offices where people are reporting for check-ins. Many of the migrants being housed by the city are from Venezuela, a country that Trump has repeatedly singled out in immigration policy.
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