"We don't want to make false promises that we can do something more than Chicago or New York have done for the people who cannot work, but for the people who have a work permit, we are offering them the opportunity to build their lives here."
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As Chicago works to shelter and support more than 15,000 asylum seekers, another Midwestern city has said they're willing to help.
CBS 2's Sara Machi learned St. Louis might soon take in thousands of migrants from Chicago, but found out not every migrant now staying in Chicago would be eligible.
For this "secondary migration," St. Louis officials are targeting people who started their asylum claims in their home countries under a specific Biden administration program. Program representatives said Chicago was their first stop as they go around the country visiting with leaders in cities scrambling to serve thousands of migrants.
"I understand that there probably will be some people that will come on their own, and we'll have to deal with those people as well, but we are trying to be strategic and intentional," said Karlos Ramirez, vice president of Latino outreach for International Institute of St. Louis.
Ramirez was in Chicago over the weekend, meeting with various migrant support groups and Beatriz Ponce De Leon, the city's deputy mayor of immigrant, migrant and refugee rights – taking in the sheer magnitude of Chicago's migrant crisis, and outlining the St. Louis offer of housing, employment, and social services for certain asylum seekers.
"We don't want to make false promises that we can do something more than Chicago or New York have done for the people who cannot work, but for the people who have a work permit, we are offering them the opportunity to build their lives here," said attorney Jerry Schlichter, founder of Arch Grants.
Schlichter developed the program to pitch St. Louis to migrants, hoping scores of new residents could offset St. Louis's declining population and bolster their workforce.
The program is similar to one Arch Grantsstarted in 2021 for Afghan refugees after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Schlichter said their model would provide three months of free housing and services - like job placement and pre-apprenticeship training through trade unions – but those last points are key, because the St. Louis group is trying to recruit people able to work now, since many migrants wait 90 to 150 days for work visas.
He pointed to a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services program that grants "travel authorization to up to 30,000 noncitizens each month" to "nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, and their immediate family members."
St. Louis is hoping Chicago groups will vet and recommend migrants for their program.
"Chicago wins, St. Louis wins, but more importantly, the people in this humanitarian crisis, they're gonna win as well," Ramirez said.
Ramirez said they're hoping Chicago officials can vet the first dozen migrants for a pilot program, but Schlichter said they hope to bring 500 asylum seekers to St. Louis by the end of the year.
They said their program for Afghan refugees resettled about 2,000 people.
