‘Proof of Airport Business’ Needed to Enter O’Hare For the duration of Overnight Hours From CTA: Officials – NBC Chicago

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

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

These who cannot offer proof will be turned away.

“In order to offer 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 devoid of any airport business enterprise,” the airport agency mentioned.

The Aviation Division emphasized that the policy has been in location 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 irrespective of whether the policy applied to individuals choosing up or dropping off travelers at the airport, but the agency mentioned “all CTA prospects exiting the Blue Line station” through these hours would be asked to show proof of business enterprise.

But enforcement of that policy appeared to have waned earlier in the winter just before it was provided further consideration in current months immediately after the quantity of unhoused individuals searching for shelter at the airport drew national consideration 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 essential to move individuals out of the airports,” she mentioned then. “The airports are a incredibly various location than on the street beneath an underpass.”

Haymarket Center’s O’Hare Outreach system, which connects these experiencing homelessness and searching for shelter at the airport with sources, has mentioned that although the quantity of individuals searching for shelter at O’Hare in the winter months normally increases, the improve has been larger lately.

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

On the other hand, the airport agency mentioned 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 through the pandemic.

An elevated police presence could be observed at the airport in February. Like a cadre of officers stationed at the O’Hare Blue Line cease inside the airport. They have been observed asking individuals coming into the airport by way of the Blue Line to show their airline tickets or perform IDs, even just before ten p.m.