Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago and Asian American Midwest Progressives are non-profit organizations dedicated to building power through collective advocacy and organizing to achieve racial equity. Many of our community leaders call the historically diverse neighborhoods of Uptown and Edgewater home and organize with Asian Americans and allies across Chicagoland for a more just and equitable city and state for all.
As organizations committed to supporting immigrants and refugees and centering the needs of our most vulnerable community members, we strongly support the move to convert the Broadway Armory into a temporary shelter for recently arrived asylum-seekers.
Uptown and Edgewater have for decades been home to generations of refugees and migrants from all over the world. As Asian Americans whose families have been displaced by war, economic hardship, and political instability, we understand intimately the trauma and difficulties of fleeing your home country and seeking safety in another land.
The difficulty of finding safe housing solutions for our new neighbors comes as no surprise. Chicago is in a housing crisis. With more than 65,000 individuals experiencing houselessness in Chicago, our local agencies have been overwhelmed and underfunded for decades.
We urge the city to continue to identify safe temporary shelters for migrants and move asylum-seekers out of police stations as soon as possible. In addition, we know the city can and must use this moment as an opportunity to greatly expand its affordable housing system and create long-term solutions. Permanent solutions like the Bring Chicago Home campaign to create a dedicated fund for affordable housing are necessary to ensure that all residents have a safe place to live.
We look forward to continuing our work with community partners and allies to ensure Chicago is truly a sanctuary city—for newly arrived asylum-seekers and for all people who call our city home.
###
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to building power through collective advocacy and organizing to achieve racial equity. Advancing Justice | Chicago focuses on five key issue areas: immigrant justice, language access, criminal justice reform & public safety for all, voting rights & democracy, and education equity.
Asian American Midwest Progressives (AAMP) is a 501(c)(4) non-profit organizaiton dedicated building political power in the Midwest through collective advocacy and electoral organizing to achieve racial equity. Founded in 2019, AAMP currently has chapters in Illinois and Ohio.