‘Proof of airport activity’ required to enter O’Hare during CTA night hours: officials – NBC Chicago

Those arriving by CTA train at O’Hare Airport overnight must provide proof they have “business” there to be allowed entry, officials said.

Chicago police will ask anyone arriving at the airport via the Blue Line between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. for “proof of airport activity,” such as a boarding pass or employee badge, a the Chicago Aviation Department said in a statement.

Those who cannot provide proof will be turned away.

“In order to provide a secure environment at O’Hare International Airport, CDA security personnel work with the Chicago Police Department to enforce existing laws, which make it clear that it is illegal to be in Chicago airports without any airport activity,” the airport agency said. said.

The Department of Aviation pointed out that the policy has been in place since 2020. As a secure location, O’Hare does not allow members of the public to be at the airport unless they are flying at indoors or outdoors or working there.

It was unclear whether the policy applied to people picking up or dropping off travelers at the airport, but the agency said “all CTA customers exiting the Blue Line station” during these hours would be asked to present proof of activity.

But enforcement of this policy appears to have waned at the start of winter before it received particular attention in recent months after the number of homeless people seeking shelter at the airport attracted attention and national reviews.

In February, Mayor Lori Lightfoot acknowledged the seriousness of the problem, but argued that conservative media had exaggerated the problem.

“We have taken and will continue to take the necessary steps to get people out of airports,” she said at the time. “Airports are a very different place than the street under an underpass.”

The Haymarket Center’s O’Hare Outreach program, which connects people who are homeless and seeking shelter at the airport with resources, said that while the number of people seeking shelter in O’Hare during the months of winter is still increasing, the increase has been higher recently.

“We will continue within the limits of the law to do what is necessary to provide support to these people – but elsewhere. They cannot be at our airports,” the mayor said.

However, the airport agency said the policy was renewed as the Blue Line resumed 24-hour service to and from the airport last month. Previously, trains did not run from O’Hare to Rosemont station from midnight to 4 a.m., a policy that began during the pandemic.

An increased police presence could be observed at the airport in February. Including a cadre of officers stationed at the O’Hare Blue Line stop inside the airport. They were seen asking people entering the airport via the blue line to show their plane tickets or business IDs, even before 10 p.m.