“This is just the way life is for us,” said Moises Lopez, 21, when asked about the looming eviction notices. “The uncertainty. It’s not easy. There are many people who can’t work, and we don’t know what we’re going to do.”

Most migrants don’t qualify for work permit authorization, which would give them the right to legally work in the United States. Advocates say not having the document is a large barrier to migrants’ autonomy and economic independence.

Having received thousands of migrants on buses in the middle of winter, Johnson previously cited inclement weather as a reason to allow people to stay in shelters. Then in recent days, a large measles outbreak at a shelter on the Lower West Side contributed to the thousands of additional exemptions, officials said.

Jaime Groth Searle, founder of Southwest Collective, said the administration has flip-flopped its policy so many times that migrants aren’t actually prepared to be asked to leave.

“It’s a little bit of a surprise when they are told,” she said. “They have to start all over again.”

Yorladis Reneteria, who stood outside the fieldhouse in Gage Park with her husband, Aldo Reyes, Sunday morning said her eviction date wasn’t until April 30. Reneteria didn’t know of anyone inside who was leaving Sunday.

“The city keeps changing their mind. I don’t have kids, but I imagine it’s just that much more scary for the families that do,” she said.

Denver and New York have also received thousands of migrants in recent months and are adopting similar shelter limits, despite espousing welcoming values before Abbott’s busing program began.

Chicago officials said migrants who are evicted can find their way back to the city’s “landing zone” in the West Loop, where they can reapply for the shelter system if they want a bed.

No migrant interviewed by the Tribune Sunday knew how to get to the landing zone, though they’d heard it was an option.

Jesus Jimenez, 24, said Monday he didn’t know how the shelter was enforcing shelter limits. It was his 60th day at the shelter in West Town, but he hadn’t received a warning to leave.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” he said. “I think they’re supposed to tell us 10 days before we need to go.”

But Jimenez said he was glad the city wasn’t asking him to leave that afternoon. He said he wanted to be connected with resources and find a steady job first.

_____

(Chicago Tribune’s Alice Yin contributed.)

_____

©2024 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.