Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants to shelter 1,000 undocumented Central American children in his city by the end of 2014.

"The influx of unaccompanied child migrants is a growing humanitarian crisis that we can no longer ignore," Emanuel told The Chicago Tribune. "While we have our own challenges at home, we cannot turn our backs on children that are fleeing dangerous conditions."

According to the mayor's office, the city would offer shelter, food, education, safety and social services and education paid for by the federal government, EFE reported. Officials are also interested in having lawyers in the area give free legal services to the minors.

"We cannot turn our backs on children that are fleeing dangerous conditions," Emanuel said. "We will do our part to ensure that these children are given access to services and treated fairly and humanely."

According to EFE, Chicago already has nine immigrant shelters run by nonprofit organization Heartland Alliance that house 429 minors. Emanuel's plan involves working with Chicago City Hall and various interested local organizations to create additional housing.

The locations of any new potential shelters have not yet been revealed, Fox News reported.

"We think that it'd be better to find locations that are already residential ... and wouldn't need a tremendous amount of work in order to get them ready and also not be as conspicuous," Michael Negron, Emanuel's policy chief, told Chicago Tribune. "Ultimately, we want to make sure that the children are secure. The more visible the site, the more risk there could be extra security risk to the children."

The policy chief added that the administration will target facilities like hotels and dormitories.

Mayor Emanuel is a former Illinois Democratic congressman and chief of staff for the Obama administration, according to Fox News.

In August, the Chicago Archdiocese will apply to get federal authorization to take care of some of the undocumented children. The minors would be sheltered by a religious academy and the local Catholic Charities Branch, EFE reported.
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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.

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