It took a lot for Maura Falcon, an asylum-seeker and mother, to speak up about the mistreatment and concerns that she says she has been experiencing at the makeshift shelter where she has been living since arriving in Chicago from Venezuela. Initially, she said, she was just grateful to have a place to sleep and warm food, but three months later, things have changed.
At the volunteer-run shelter in Pilsen, asylum-seekers were promised safety and help to settle in the city in early May. But efforts stagnated and the shelter is troubled, say some of the migrants living there.
On Wednesday morning, Falcon and a group of mostly migrant mothers went to City Hall and attempted to deliver a handwritten letter to Mayor Brandon Johnson, in which they detailed their concerns and living conditions. Those included prohibiting children from drinking bottled water and eating fresh food donations; forcing asylum-seekers, including a family, out of the shelter without a place to go after alleged rule violations; and failing to provide guidance to find permanent housing.
“But many are scared to speak because we have nowhere else to go,” Falcon said. “Es lo mismo que allá, opinas y te meten preso,” she added, explaining that she feels oppressed like she did in her native country of Venezuela, where if she spoke up, she could end up in jail.
The allegations of mistreatment from volunteers at the Pilsen shelter are just the latest in complaints from migrants and their advocates, who have spoke about the inhumane living conditions at some of the city-run shelters. Most recently, the Chicago Police Department is investigating allegations of sexual misconduct by at least one officer involving a migrant housed at a West Side police station.
The Pilsen shelter is overseen by Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, who said the complaints are misleading and that the migrants choosing to vocalize their concerns have been galvanized by politically motivated individuals who are using the migrants’ vulnerability for self-gain.
The group of mothers has shared concerns in the past, and they were guided to City Hall by Juan Aguirre, a former volunteer who was banned from the shelter for inappropriate behavior, Sigcho-Lopez said.
Aguirre said he only responded to the migrants’ request for help.
Members of the group said they had raised concerns with Lucia Moya, the chief of staff of the 25th Ward, several times over the past months, “but no one does anything,” Falcon said. “That’s why we’re here.”
In the letter, the residents of the shelter also denounced staff members who they say often threaten them with being forced out if they speak up, and use defensive and aggressive behavior.
In a meeting with Moya in late May, several migrants raised concerns about their future at the shelter and mistreatment from some of the volunteers. At the time, Moya told the group that those volunteers would be removed and also assured them that Sigcho-Lopez’s office was working to connect them to the services available to them.
Falcon said that at the time, the group remained hopeful. But recently, turmoil escalated once again, when several altercations took place between volunteers and migrants after asylum-seekers were told to leave the shelter after violating shelter rules and a domestic argument, according to testimonies from asylum-seekers, videos and documentation obtained by the Tribune.
The altercations, often involving yelling, are traumatic for the children, Falcon said.
Francheska Karolisi Betancourt was given a notice of relocation for “failure to uphold the fundamental rules of the shelter,” according to a document she was provided.
The document lists Betancourt’s violations, including violating curfew several times and substance use outside of the shelter at night. But Betancourt said she has children and does not agree that her behavior merits her removal from the space.
“We are thankful to have the space and for all the help, but the way we are being treated is not fair,” Betancourt said.
In an emailed statement, Moya said that the team administering the shelter has “met with different stakeholders to provide resources such as medical care, workshops and training to address the migrants’ concerns.” She added that volunteers go through an onboarding process that includes trauma-informed training by licensed practitioners that can help de-escalate a situation and respond appropriately.
Moya added that the residents receive hot meals daily and have been advised to drink water from the water fountain after Chicago Department of Public Health determined that it was safe to drink. She also detailed a list of benefits residents can apply for including Medicaid and Link applications through special visits from the Illinois Department of Human Services.
“In the first 30 days, the property owners replaced all water pipes and a lead test was completed via CDPH where it resulted that the water was safe to drink. We advise residents that due to sustainability and cost, water bottles could not be provided everyday but we’re reassured that the tap water was safe to drink,” Moya wrote.
Johana Barboza, another mother who went to City Hall on Wednesday morning, said her main concern was the lack of guidance from staffers on how to leave the shelter and rent an apartment, even after getting a job.
“I’ve asked several times and get nothing back,” she said in Spanish.
Moya said the shelter has made rental assistance from the city and state available. “But unfortunately many did not qualify because they need proof of income and unfortunately they are not authorized to work without any work visa,” Moya wrote.
“The misunderstanding may be because government employees are telling them they do not qualify, they may feel as though it is our choice to not help them,” Moya added.
Sigcho-Lopez and the volunteers in the 25th Ward have been recognized for their efforts to help house new arrivals with dignity when the city and state failed to do so, setting up the shelter for migrants who were staying in the 10th District police station when no other agency did.
There, migrants gained access to air mattresses, hot showers and daily meals. They were also connected to other local organizations that provided them with other necessities, including school enrollment, access to medical care and more.
Ricky Flores and Delilah Martinez are two volunteers who have not left the asylum-seekers’ side since they began helping to establish the shelter. Flores said migrants often go to him when they are in need or distressed. Though there’s a “need for structure,” he said, “most people do the good work.”
Martinez said she can attest to the “great heart that volunteers have,” at the shelter. But she also advocated for the proper funding of the shelter to ensure that it runs smoothly and safely for the migrants. Martinez said the allegations from the migrants should be a cry for help for city leaders to properly fund the volunteer-run shelters that have provided the asylum-seekers with help when the government could not.
Regardless of the allegations, they don’t plan to stop helping. Instead, the two believe there needs to be better communication and transparency with the migrants.
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At City Hall, a representative of Johnson’s office accepted the letter and spoke to the migrants who attempted to deliver it, Johnson’s deputy chief of staff, Cristina Pacione-Zayas, told the Tribune.
“We heard them out. We want to honor their right to peacefully demonstrate and to raise their concerns, and hear them out and try to understand what resources we can direct them to while staying at this volunteer-run shelter,” she said.
Because it is not a city-run shelter, “there’s nothing that we can do,” she said.
Pacione-Zayas said the mayor’s office is still working on crafting a document, expected to be finished at the end of the month, that would help determine volunteer-run shelters’ eligibility to be city-sanctioned after applying, she said.
“But at this point, these are allegations,” she said.
