These arriving by CTA train at O’Hare Airport in the course of the evening hours ought to deliver proof of “small business” to be permitted entry, officials mentioned.
Chicago police officers will ask any individual arriving at the airport by means of the Blue Line in between ten p.m. and four a.m. for “proof of airport small business,” such as a boarding pass or employee badge, according to a statement from the Chicago Division of Aviation.
These who can not deliver proof will be rejected.
“To make certain a secure atmosphere at O’Hare International Airport, CDA safety personnel are functioning with the Chicago Police Division to enforce current laws, which make it clear that it is illegal to be in Chicago airports with no any airport small business,” the airport agency mentioned.
The Division of Aviation emphasized that the policy is in impact as of 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 functioning there.
It was unclear whether or not the policy applies to men and women choosing up or dropping off passengers at the airport, but the agency mentioned “all CTA clients exiting a Blue Line station” in the course of these hours will be asked to show proof of small business.
But enforcement of that policy appeared to have weakened earlier in the winter, just before becoming offered added focus in current months right after the quantity of homeless men and women searching for shelter at the airport drew focus and criticism from the state.
In February, Mayor Laurie Lightfoot acknowledged the seriousness of the challenge, but argued that the conservative media had exaggerated the problem.
“We have taken and will continue to take the actions required to evacuate men and women from the airport,” she mentioned at the time. “Airports are a really diverse spot than on the street beneath an underpass.
The Haymarket Center’s O’Hare Outreach System, which connects these experiencing homelessness and searching for shelter at the airport with sources, says that though the quantity of men and women searching for shelter at O’Hare constantly increases in the winter months, the enhance has been higher lately.
“We will continue to do what is required inside the law to deliver assistance to these men and women – but in other areas.” They can not be at our airports,” mentioned the mayor.
Nevertheless, the airport agency mentioned enforcement of the policy was restored as the Blue Line resumed 24-hour service to and from the airport final month. Previously, trains did not run from O’Hare to Rosemont Station in between midnight and four a.m., a policy that started in the course of the pandemic.
In February, an improved police presence could be noticed at the airport. Such as a cadre of officers stationed at the O’Hare Blue Line station inside the airport. They had been noticed asking men and women arriving at the airport by means of the Blue Line to show their plane tickets or perform IDs, even just before ten p.m.