If you are traveling through Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and pass by a black curtain along the way, you might be surprised to know that illegal aliens are living there.

Chicago is running out of places to house illegal aliens so it is using a shuttle bus center at the airport’s Terminal 1. They share airport bathrooms and sleep on cardboard laid out on the floor. A volunteer at O’Hare, Vianney Marzullo, said the shuttle bus center was supposed to be a “stop and go place.” “It’s very concerning. It is not just a safety matter, but a public health matter,” she said. Hundreds of illegal aliens live behind a heavy black curtain stapled shut, from infants to the elderly. A private firm monitors their movement.

Some migrants stay at O’Hare for weeks, then are moved to police stations or manage to get into the few shelters available. Within weeks, Chicago plans to roll out winterized tents, something New York has done.

Up to 500 people have lived at O’Hare simultaneously in a space far smaller than a city block, shrouded by a curtain fastened shut with staples. Their movements are monitored by a private company whose staff control who enters and exits the curtain.

Sickness spreads quickly. The staffing company provides limited first aid and calls ambulances. A volunteer team of doctors visited once over the summer and their supplies were decimated.

Chicago offers meals, but only at specific times and many foods are unfamiliar to the new arrivals. While migrants closer to Chicago’s core have access to a strong network of volunteers, food and clothing donations at O’Hare are limited, due to airport security concerns.

Many of the illegal immigrants are from Venezuela. At least 7.3 million have left that failed country, now the poster child for the destruction that happens to a once thriving nation when it spirals out of control into socialism. One 26-year-old mother of a two-year-old child traveled through the Darien Gap to illegally enter the United States. They arrived a few days ago in Chicago.

“We come here with the intention of working, not with the intention of being given everything,” she said. A recent Biden Administration plan to offer temporary legal status status, and the ability to work, to Venezuelans doesn’t apply to her because she arrived after the deadline.

This is a prime example of an illegal immigrant who claims asylum but will not qualify for it. She came for a job and to work for a better life, she said, but that is not a legitimate reason to be granted asylum in America, according to current immigration laws. Not only would she take a job from an American citizen but job permits are a magnet for more illegal immigration. Joe Biden and his administration know this but they just don’t care.

The city’s two international airports act as temporary shelters ever since the number of migrants arriving by plane increased. About 3,000 people have sought shelter after arriving by plane since June. It should be noted that Chicago’s mayor and other city officials blame Texas Governor Greg Abbott for the city’s migrant problem but Abbott isn’t flying illegal aliens out of Texas. They arrive from Texas by bus. These illegal migrants are not the fault of the overcrowding of the Texas border.

A smaller number of illegal aliens live at Midway International Airport. It is reported that they walk two miles to a police station for clothes and services.

The inevitable is happening at O’Hare. The illegal aliens are spreading out beyond the black curtain that is supposed to separate them from travelers. In order to have more space, they sleep along the windows. Travelers and airline staff catching shuttle buses walk by them and some stop to take pictures.

Chicago officials acknowledge that using the airports isn’t ideal but options are limited.

Cristina Pacione-Zayas, first deputy chief of staff, said Chicago is slowly building capacity to house people. The city has added 15 shelters since May and resettled about 3,000 people. They serve 190,000 meals weekly and partner with groups for medical care, but still rely heavily on volunteers to fill gaps.

“Is it perfect? No. But what we have done is stood in our values to ensure that we live up to operationalizing a sanctuary city,” she said. “We will continue to work on it, but we are holding the line.”

Sure, don’t re-think the absurdity of sanctuary cities, just keep destroying your city with failing public policy. Good Lord. Chicago is a lost cause as long as they keep voting Democrats into power.

Other cities are refusing to use airports to shelter illegal aliens arriving by plane. Boston’s Logan International Airport gives them cots for a few hours and then sends them elsewhere. Officials in Atlantic City, New Jersey blasted a plan to use Atlantic City International Airport as a shelter. “It is such a preposterous solution to the problems we have,” said Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson. “Who is going to secure these people? Who is going to feed them? Who is going to educate them? We really don’t have any infrastructure to take care of them.”

Yes, it is preposterous to house illegal aliens in airports. This is Biden’s America. Democrats are doing their best to transform America – we just didn’t know they planned to turn America into a Third World country.