As snow blankets Chicago, residents of a South Shore neighborhood dialed 911 on dozens of migrants who appeared to be “breaking into” a boarded-up three-story apartment building to escape the cold.
The Essex Avenue building was undergoing renovations. The windows were boarded up and a construction company’s sign hung on the door.
A neighbor living across the street recorded the scene and posted it on Instagram.
Furniture and appliances were being delivered as the migrants, including children, attempted to enter the building.
“Police radio chatter intercepted by scanners showed officers were responding to what the caller said were 40 to 50 migrants who broke in,” the Daily Mail reports.
(Video: Daily Mail)
Residents soon learned the migrants weren’t busting into the building. The owner of the property, Chris Amatore, had “authorized the migrants to be there.”
The only problem, responding officers said, was “capacity limitations.”
“Well, there’s not enough room for everyone trying to get in here so we’re trying to sort that out… that seems to be the problem, there’s capacity limitations,” one of the officers said.
According to the neighbor on Instagram, truckloads of the illegal migrants had been dropped off at the address earlier that day.
Amatore, a property developer, has flipped more than 600 buildings in the Windy City. Since 2022, when the migrant crisis began swamping Chicago resources, he’s been turning his properties into temporary shelters.
“I have dedicated my life for the foreseeable future to housing the homeless Venezuelan asylum seekers in Chicago,” Amatore’s X profile reads. “To stand with them against the hate.”
“I worship God. I don’t worship money,” Amatore told CBS News. “So I decided to put that money to do something good with it.”
(Video: YouTube)
One of Amatore’s buildings is currently housing 54 migrants who say they are seeking permanent work.
It began, he said, when four Venezuelan migrants rang his doorbell in search of a job.
“I gave them my office address, and I said, ‘If you want to work, come to my office on Monday,'” he explained. “They showed up an hour and a half early on Monday.”
Amatore stocked refrigerators in his shelter with food and bought everyone a mattress.
“The house has a mantra,” the CBS reporter said. “Together we are strong.”
Amatore said he’s “grateful to God” for the success he has had in life, and he’s “just trying to help.”
“Something kind of like snapped on me, and I feel like I’m on God’s plan and just trying to help,” he stated. “I also have another building just like this that I can use, as well, if they need it.”
It is unclear if the property posted to Instagram is the other building to which he was referring.
Online, few are as sympathetic to migrants’ plight.
“They’re illegal aliens, not migrants,” noted one user on X.
“This is evil,” replied another.
“‘Peaceful immigrants’ looking for work right…” stated a third, “they’re here to destroy America the same way they destroyed their country.”
They’re illegal aliens, not migrants.
— Anton Makarov ZOV (@AntonMa23796523) January 25, 2024
This is evil https://t.co/XCZTFAz4Ai
— Dwane Mann (@dwane_mann) January 25, 2024
“Peaceful immigrants” looking for work right…they’re here to destroy America the same way they destroyed their country.
— Valentina Gomez (@ValentinaForSOS) January 25, 2024
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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