These arriving by CTA train at O’Hare Airport in the course of overnight hours will need to present proof they have “business” there to be permitted to enter, officials mentioned.
Chicago police officers will be asking any individual arriving at the airport by way of the Blue Line in between ten p.m. and four a.m. for “proof of airport company,” such as an airline boarding pass or an employee badge, the Chicago Division of Aviation mentioned in a statement.
These who cannot present proof will be turned away.
“In order to present a safe atmosphere at O’Hare International Airport, CDA safety personnel operate with the Chicago Police Division to enforce current laws, which make clear that it is unlawful to be at Chicago’s airports devoid of any airport company,” the airport agency mentioned.
The Aviation Division emphasized that the policy has been in location due to the fact 2020. As a safe place, O’Hare does not let members of the public to be at the airport unless they are flying in or out or operate there.
It was unclear regardless of whether the policy applied to people today selecting up or dropping off travelers at the airport, but the agency mentioned “all CTA shoppers exiting the Blue Line station” in the course of these hours would be asked to show proof of company.
But enforcement of that policy appeared to have waned earlier in the winter ahead of it was offered further consideration in current months right after the quantity of unhoused people today in search of shelter at the airport drew national consideration and criticism.
In February, Mayor Lori Lightfoot acknowledged the seriousness of the problem but argued that conservative media had blown the concern out of proportion.
“We have taken and will continue to take the measures that are required to move people today out of the airports,” she mentioned then. “The airports are a extremely distinctive location than on the street beneath an underpass.”
Haymarket Center’s O’Hare Outreach system, which connects these experiencing homelessness and in search of shelter at the airport with sources, has mentioned that even though the quantity of people today in search of shelter at O’Hare in the winter months usually increases, the boost has been greater lately.
“We’re gonna continue inside the bounds of the law to do what is required to present these people with help — but elsewhere. They cannot be in our airports,” the mayor mentioned.
On the other hand, the airport agency mentioned enforcement of the policy was renewed since the Blue Line resumed 24-hour service to and from the airport final month. Previously, trains did not run from O’Hare to the Rosemont station from midnight to four a.m., a policy which began in the course of the pandemic.
An improved police presence could be observed at the airport in February. Which includes a cadre of officers stationed at the O’Hare Blue Line cease inside the airport. They had been observed asking people today coming into the airport by way of the Blue Line to show their airline tickets or operate IDs, even ahead of ten p.m.