Overview

• The state budget approved in June includes a $1.3 million settlement with GardaWorld Federal Services for work on the never-opened Brighton Park tent site.
• Governor JB Pritzker had assured in December 2023 that the contractor would absorb any costs if environmental hazards prevented the camp’s completion.
• A late-2023 environmental review detected elevated levels of mercury, lead and arsenic in the soil, prompting the immediate halt and eventual cancellation of the project.
• The City of Chicago has already invested roughly $1.7 million in soil remediation and a settlement with the Brighton Park property owner following the project’s collapse.
• After scrapping the tent encampment plan, Illinois opened smaller migrant shelters, including a former CVS in Little Village, to manage the ongoing migrant influx.