Report: Chicago Operating ‘Secretive’ Network of Taxpayer-Funded Migrant Shelters ‘Shrouded in Mystery’

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) is running a “secretive” network of taxpayer-funded migrant shelters that are “shrouded in mystery and quietness,” according to the Chicago Tribune and those familiar with the operation.

Since August of last year, more than 10,000 border crossers and illegal aliens have arrived in the sanctuary city of Chicago — many arriving on buses sent from Texas.

To deal with the waves of illegal immigration, rather than urging President Joe Biden’s administration to halt the influx, Johnson has said Chicago is open to migrants and vowed that the city will house, feed, and care for new arrivals.

Those promises have been realized by the city’s migrant shelter network, funded entirely by local, state, and federal taxpayers. A report from the Chicago Tribune, and those familiar with the operation, suggests that the shelter network operated by Johnson’s office is “secretive” and ensures that the public is not allowed inside shelters.

The Chicago Tribune reports:

The condition of the city’s 12 shelters cannot be assessed fully because the city has repeatedly denied a request from the Tribune and others for access to them. According to a letter in May from Chicago’s congressional delegation, the city has spent more than $75 million in the past nine months on over 10,000 new arrivals who have come to Chicago since August, and Chicago aldermen recently voted to spend an additional $51 million on migrant care through June. [Emphasis added]

…

Footage sent to the Tribune by migrants over WhatsApp confirms descriptions from those willing to speak about dirty bathrooms and hotel rooms crammed with as many as three to four families. Footage shows asylum-seekers at a shelter in Leone Beach Park in Rogers Park sleeping on the gymnasium floor. [Emphasis added]

…

Bawany described the city shelters as being “shrouded in mystery and quietness.” The lack of information extends not just to the public, but to the migrants themselves. No one seems to know what is going on, he said. [Emphasis added]

One particular shelter, with signs on doors keeping the public out, is the Inn of Chicago. Reporters at the Chicago Tribune said they were told they could not view the inside of the shelter.

Typically, before border crossers and illegal aliens are moved to the migrant shelters, they stay for days on end in police stations across the city — sleeping on the floor.

Most recently, Johnson cheered as the Chicago City Council ignored objections from local taxpayers over a plan to throw $51 million at the migrant shelter operation. Native Chicagoans, for months now, have said the city is singularly focused on aiding border crossers and illegal aliens as their communities remain underfunded and largely abandoned.

“We need to take care of our community, we need to take care of our black community,” one resident said during the city council meeting.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.