As construction on a new migrant camp in Brighton Park has been halted after toxic chemicals were found on the site, efforts to prevent a similar migrant camp facility in Roseland at 115th and Halsted are not getting much support either.
A $5,000 GoFundMe campaign started by activist Reverend Anthony Wilson on November 24 has only raised $100. That donation came from a single donor named Annette Cain, according to the website.
Wilson said the fundraising campaign was launched to help pay for an attorney and other legal fees for an injunction he plans to file to stop the city from building the winterized migrant camp on a parking lot at the vacant Jewel supermarket.
Last month freshman Alderman Ronnie Mosley (21st) angered many residents in his ward when he reversed course to lead the City Council in approving Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan to build the winterized camp that will house 2,500 migrants.
Mosley initially told Mayor Johnson he would not vote in favor of the plan but changed his vote after agreeing to some changes that included a November 1, 2024, deadline date for the closing of the migrant camp.
Residents were still disappointed by the decision. Some said they will not vote for Mosley, should he decide to seek a second term in 2027.
Morgan Park and Roseland residents have been waiting for construction of the Morgan Park Commons affordable housing complex to be built on the site since it was approved in 2003.
Wilson and several community activists vowed to fight to stop the placement of the migrant camp on the site despite the City Council’s approval.
This week Wilson told the Crusader that a lawyer is working out final details of the legal motion that will ask a federal judge to grant an injunction to halt construction of the camp.
“We want to make sure we have covered everything so that when we’re in the courtroom, our efforts of successful,” Wilson said.
He is disappointed but not discouraged by the low number of donations from his GoFundMe campaign, Wilson said.
“Everyone wants change, but no one wants to support our campaign.”
Titled “STOP TENT CITY ON 115th AND HALSTED,” Wilson says on the campaign website, “stand in solidarity with the citizens of the 21st Ward, against the migrant tents they are building on the 115th Street parking lot. It’s not that we are against migrants, but we are against illegals coming in our communities.”
Wilson also says, “our community was deprived of the affordable housing and retail project that was already written in stone for 2024, and again our political leaders put the community last.”
Residents can donate to the GoFundMe campaign by going to the link https://www.gofundme.com/f/stop-tent-city-on-115th-and-halsted?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_source=customer.
Meanwhile, plans to build a migrant camp at 38th and California in Brighton Park have been put on hold after the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency found toxic chemicals and heavy metals on the site, which is in the 12th Ward.
The 800-page review came after Mayor Johnson resisted calls by residents to stop the construction amid environmental concerns on the 9.5 acre site. Mayor Johnson hired Terracon Consultants to conduct the environmental study between October 27 and November 1 this year.
In a statement, Mayor Johnson said, “The sample results were compared to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s remediation standards for residential use. According to the report, soil with mercury levels was identified at one location and was removed and properly disposed offsite at a landfill, and with the limited soil removal and placement and maintenance of the barrier, the site is safe for temporary residential use.”
