Afternoon Edition: Buses from the border: One year later

Vannessa Olivera, at home in Kilbourn Park. Her family has found some footing as they try to win asylum and anxiously await their work permits.

Good afternoon, Chicago. ✶

This week marks one year since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began sending buses of migrants from the southern border to Chicago.

It’s a move that has made political pawns out of thousands of people and created a complicated, dire humanitarian crisis in the city.

In today’s newsletter, we look at the challenges migrants have faced here in the year since the first bus arrived.

Plus, we’ve got more stories you need to know this afternoon. 👇

⏱️: A 7-minute read

— Matt Moore, newsletter reporter (@MattKenMoore)

TODAY’S TOP STORY

A year since the first buses of migrants arrived in Chicago, the journey to asylum for Vannessa Olivera, others is just beginning

Reporting by Elvia Malagón

One year later:It has been one year since the first buses carrying migrants from Texas — sent by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott — arrived in Chicago. Since then, more than 13,000 immigrants have arrived in Chicago. Many fled Venezuela and are now seeking asylum in the United States. As of this month, more than 6,000 immigrants remain in city-run shelters, and 1,080 people are sleeping at police stations and airports awaiting shelter beds, according to city officials.

Waiting for asylum:Navigating the transition from temporary to long-term U.S. resident is a journey in itself, one that takes years. Many who have arrived in the last year are seeking asylum. Some who have applied for asylum have a long wait until their cases come to immigration court, according to lawyers, and others are being given hearing dates as far in the future as 2025. Immigrants who have now been in Chicago for nearly a year find themselves trying to gain independence and stability while awaiting work authorization and updates to their immigration cases.

New Chicagoans share experience:Seven months ago, Vannessa Olivera, her husband and their four children applied for asylum. But they still haven’t been given a date to make their case in immigration court. More than five months ago, she and her husband applied for authorization to find jobs while their immigration case is pending, but they still haven’t gotten any update on that.

“It makes you more anxious than what you already are, and that produces stress, impatience and uncertainty, not knowing when we are going to have a court date where we can explain what happened to us,” Olivera said in Spanish. “All of that leaves us in uncertainty.”

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WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?

Workers prepare the new Amazon facility in West Humboldt Park that’s designed for quick-turnaround orders.

Amazon preps new West Humboldt Park center: The e-commerce giant is hiring and putting the final touches on its new facility, which is designed to receive, store and ship common household items — right to your door within four to eight hours of you placing an order.
Man gets life sentence in killing of cop: Alexander Villa, a man convicted as one of the gunmen in the 2011 murder of Chicago Police officer Clifton Lewis, was sentenced to life in prison today. Villa vowed to appeal his verdict and maintained he was framed by police and prosecutors.
Father of Highland Park shooting suspect will stand trial: A Lake County judge today declined to dismiss charges against the father of the man suspected of killing seven people at Highland Park’s Fourth of July parade last year. The judge ruled against Robert Crimo Jr.’s motion to dismiss charges of reckless conduct for helping his son, Robert Crimo III, obtain a gun license even though the then-19-year-old had threatened violence.
Retired firefighter pleads guilty to Jan. 6 charges: Joseph Pavlik, a retired Chicago firefighter, has pleaded guilty to his involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Pavlik, carrying a chemical irritant spray, was among a group who forced their way through an entry to the Capitol, according to federal prosecutors.
Remembering Pamela C. Rayner: Ms. Rayner grew up above A.A. Rayner and Sons Funeral Home on the South Side, her family’s funeral home, where she would eventually take the reins. As funeral director and co-owner, she comforted thousands of families before she died Aug. 13 at age 65.
Chicago Water Taxi to restart commuter service Sept. 5: The Chicago Water Taxi is resuming service next Tuesday with rush-hour service three days a week, from Tuesday to Thursday.
First lady comes to Chicago: First lady Jill Biden will hit the city Wednesday afternoon to headline an annual pre-Labor Day event sponsored by the Chicago Federation of Labor, part of a Midwest swing next week.
Week 2 Super 25 high school football rankings: Kankakee, Prospect and Barrington join after big opening-week wins.

SUN-TIMES STAFF SUGGESTS 🥃

Take a sip at Delilah’s

A recent visit to Delilah’s on Lincoln Ave.

I caught up with my colleague Katelyn Haas, an audience engagement specialist here at the Sun-Times, who suggests stopping by one of her favorite spots for a drink, Delilah’s in Lake View.

“This dive bar with 300 varieties of whisky is the perfect place to cozy up on a rainy day and spend your loose singles to queue up some punk/rock music on their old-school jukebox,” Katelyn tells me.

“The last time I was there, the bartenders went on a tirade any time someone queued up the Strokes. I don’t really know why they were so passionate about it, but I now know to avoid the Strokes there!”

📍Delilah’s, 2771 N. Lincoln Ave.

BRIGHT ONE ✨

Hayet Rida at her Bucktown boutique KHOI, which she opened the same month she was laid off from her corporate job with Meta.

Jewelry designer Hayet Rida gambles on a Bucktown boutique that defies some rules of retail

Reporting by Samantha Callender

Hayet Rida launched a jewelry studio in Bucktown this year that defied the typical rules of brick-and-mortar retail.

She poured her savings into a store design that evokes an art gallery, is open only on weekends and is zeroed in on a small-batch, hand-designed, limited-edition collection she designs herself on her iPad.

She has since been invited by the Black in Fashion Council to be one of 10 Black designers to exhibit work in a discovery showroom at New York Fashion Week, which starts Sept. 7.

In the span of a year, Rida, 34, has gone from e-commerce designer to boutique owner to featured name at New York Fashion Week.

At Rida’s boutique on North Damen Avenue, the pieces aren’t locked under glass counters or hanging in rows on swirling jewelry towers. They’re positioned on mannequins similar to the way you’d view a marble bust at a museum — like an exhibition on display.

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YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️

What’s something you’ll only find at a Chicago street festival?

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Editor: Satchel Price
Newsletter reporter: Matt Moore
Copy editor: Chris Woldt