Chicago Police Called to Illegal Immigrant Shelter Hundreds of Times in 2023, Records Show

Chicago police were called to an illegal immigrant shelter hundreds of times over the past year, in many cases to investigate allegations of violent crimes, records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request show.

The documents, obtained by resident Terry Newsome and reviewed by The Epoch Times, reveal that police were dispatched to the Inn of Chicago, a hotel now serving as a shelter for illegal immigrants, more than 250 times between January 2023 and February 2024.

While many of those calls were for parking and traffic violations, a significant portion were for alleged crimes such as aggravated assault, domestic battery, child abduction, and child abuse, including sexual assault.

In one case, a 4-year-old victim reported being “inappropriately touched” multiple times by an unknown offender living in the shelter. Another heavily redacted case involved three child victims who were transported to Lurie Children’s Hospital after alleged domestic battery and prior sexual assault.

The increase in criminal activity at the Inn of Chicago has not gone unnoticed by residents of the hotel’s Streeterville neighborhood. The complaints have been numerous, prompting Ward 42 Alderman Brendan Reilly to call for the shelter’s closure.

“I have heard from hundreds of neighborhood residents voicing their concerns about the ongoing issues related to the migrant shelter operating at the Inn of Chicago,” Mr. Reilly wrote in an email to constituents in October 2023.

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He said he and other residents had witnessed “a host of criminal activities” at the site, including narcotics sales, retail theft, and “apparent sex trafficking” to name a few. He also said piles of trash and human excrement had accumulated in the alleys around the hotel.

“The ‘experiment’ of housing 1,500 migrants at the Inn of Chicago has been an abject failure,” he wrote. “The conditions there are deplorable and the property is not safe for the migrant families living there who are co-mingled with hundreds of single, young adult males. Not only do I worry for the health and welfare of these young migrant families, I also worry for the safety of my constituents and thousands of tourists and visitors who come to the area every day.”

That concern was shared by Mr. Newsome, who noted the hotel’s proximity to the city’s bustling commercial district along North Michigan Avenue.

“It’s only a block off the Magnificent Mile. People fly in from all over the country or world to go shopping,” he told The Epoch Times.

Mr. Newsome, who lives in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove, noted that the costs associated with responding to the emergency calls would only add to taxpayers’ already hefty burden of housing and feeding the thousands of illegal immigrants in the city.

“We have to pay for the police to come off their beat, we have to pay for the ambulance, we have to pay to take them to the hospital, put them through emergency [care]. That’s hidden costs that we don’t even have a clue,” he said.

The Inn of Chicago’s illegal immigrant housing contract with the city was due to expire on Dec. 31, 2023, yet the hotel remains closed to patrons. According to the hotel’s website, it will remain “temporarily closed” until July 2024, although attempts to book anything after July 1 online produce a “This site can’t be reached” message. The hotel’s phone number produces a busy signal, and an emailed request for comment received no response.

The City of Chicago reports having taken on more than 37,000 illegal immigrants since August 2022. In total, the city has spent nearly $300 million accommodating them.

Chicago Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson enacted a 60-day maximum stay policy for illegal immigrants in temporary shelters last month amid overpopulation concerns. The policy was originally slated to take effect in January, but inclement weather pushed back its rollout.

Representatives for the Chicago Police Department and the mayor’s office didn’t respond by press time to requests by The Epoch Times for comment.