Sleeping on the floor of a Chicago police station for weeks, some migrants say it’s still their best option

CHICAGO -- Carlos Ramirez, who was a police officer in Venezuela before he says he was persecuted by government officials, now sleeps on an air mattress on the floor of a police station in Chicago.

He and his wife Betzabeth Bracho have nestled their suitcases on a bench at the 5th District police station in Pullman. About seven weeks since arriving in Chicago from San Antonio, Texas, they have established a routine for themselves. They came to the city because they’d heard its sanctuary label made it a friendly place for migrants.

Before bed, they eat donated food and store-bought sandwiches in plastic containers, bathe in the public restroom, blow up their air mattress bed and call their two young sons across borders.

Ramirez, 38, and Bracho, 33, haven’t been selected as part of the cohort of people with “medical or special needs, families, or singles with other critical needs such as pregnancy” who have been prioritized by the city for removal to temporary shelters, and like many recent arrivals, they are fine with that. They’re getting better treatment at the police stations than they would