These arriving by CTA train at O’Hare Airport for the duration of overnight hours have to have to supply proof they have “business” there to be permitted to enter, officials stated.
Chicago police officers will be asking everyone arriving at the airport through the Blue Line involving 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 stated in a statement.
These who can not supply proof will be turned away.
“In order to supply a safe atmosphere at O’Hare International Airport, CDA safety personnel perform with the Chicago Police Division to enforce current laws, which make clear that it is unlawful to be at Chicago’s airports without having any airport company,” the airport agency stated.
The Aviation Division emphasized that the policy has been in location considering that 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 perform there.
It was unclear regardless of whether the policy applied to individuals choosing up or dropping off travelers at the airport, but the agency stated “all CTA prospects exiting the Blue Line station” for the duration 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 provided additional focus in current months soon after the quantity of unhoused individuals in search of shelter at the airport drew national focus and criticism.
In February, Mayor Lori Lightfoot acknowledged the seriousness of the problem but argued that conservative media had blown the problem out of proportion.
“We have taken and will continue to take the actions that are required to move individuals out of the airports,” she stated then. “The airports are a incredibly distinctive location than on the street below 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 stated that although the quantity of individuals in search of shelter at O’Hare in the winter months constantly increases, the enhance has been greater not too long ago.
“We’re gonna continue inside the bounds of the law to do what is required to supply these people with help — but elsewhere. They can not be in our airports,” the mayor stated.
Even so, the airport agency stated enforcement of the policy was renewed for the reason that 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 for the duration of the pandemic.
An elevated police presence could be observed at the airport in February. Which includes a cadre of officers stationed at the O’Hare Blue Line quit inside the airport. They had been observed asking individuals coming into the airport through the Blue Line to show their airline tickets or perform IDs, even ahead of ten p.m.