‘Proof of Airport Business’ Expected to Enter O’Hare Through Overnight Hours From Blue Line, Officials Say – NBC Chicago

These arriving by CTA train at O’Hare Airport throughout overnight hours have to have to give proof they have “business” there to be permitted to enter, officials mentioned.

Chicago police officers will be asking any person arriving at the airport by way of the Blue Line in between ten p.m. and four a.m. for “proof of airport small business,” such as an airline boarding pass or an employee badge, the Chicago Division of Aviation mentioned in a statement.

These who can not give proof will be turned away.

“In order to give 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 the need of any airport small business,” the airport agency mentioned.

The Aviation Division emphasized that the policy has been in spot considering the fact that 2020. As a safe place, O’Hare does not permit members of the public to be at the airport unless they are flying in or out or perform there.

It was unclear no matter if the policy applied to folks choosing up or dropping off travelers at the airport, but the agency mentioned “all CTA shoppers exiting the Blue Line station” throughout these hours would be asked to show proof of small business.

But enforcement of that policy appeared to have waned earlier in the winter just before it was offered further interest in current months immediately after the quantity of unhoused folks looking for shelter at the airport drew national interest 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 vital to move folks out of the airports,” she mentioned then. “The airports are a really unique spot than on the street below an underpass.”

Haymarket Center’s O’Hare Outreach system, which connects these experiencing homelessness and looking for shelter at the airport with sources, has mentioned that although the quantity of folks looking for shelter at O’Hare in the winter months constantly increases, the boost has been larger not too long ago.

“We’re gonna continue inside the bounds of the law to do what is vital to give these people with help — but elsewhere. They can not be in our airports,” the mayor mentioned.

Even so, the airport agency mentioned enforcement of the policy was renewed mainly because 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 throughout the pandemic.

An enhanced 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 have been observed asking folks coming into the airport by way of the Blue Line to show their airline tickets or perform IDs, even just before ten p.m.