As municipalities in the Chicago region develop regulations to limit migrants from staying in their communities, one local leader wonders if residents would house migrants in their homes:
McBroom said Naperville has provided migrants safe passage to Chicago without spending taxpayer dollars to house or aid them.
But with more migrants arriving in the area, McBroom says the city should look into whether any residents or organizations are willing to help.
“My idea would be let’s find out … let’s find out who’s willing to help,” he said, adding that Naperville is an affluent community with many large homes. “If there are people who would do that, God bless them.”
There are no known organized efforts in the suburbs for residents to take in asylum-seekers…
Meanwhile, McBroom acknowledges there are many unanswered questions about his idea to have Naperville residents voluntarily house migrants. Some of those include the impact the proposal may have on local schools and what role the city would play in managing a list of volunteer hosts.
Thus far, few communities have indicated much interest in helping migrants find opportunities in the suburbs. I have only seen efforts in this direction from Oak Park. Most communities in the news have been developing regulations so that migrants do not stay and/or they are making sure migrants dropped at suburban train stations make their way to Chicago.
This idea has the potential to bypass community-level initiatives and instead coordinate efforts of residents and property owners. How much space might be available in homes and buildings in a suburb with nearly 150,000 residents? How many people would volunteer?
I could only imagine what might happen among (1) neighbors of people who are willing to house migrants and (2) if names and addresses of individual hosts became known to the public.
We will see where this goes, but I imagine it would not go too far if there is the possibility of state money available to communities in the near future.