CHICAGO– The death of a 5-year-old migrant boy and reported illnesses in other children living in a warehouse-turned-shelter have raised new concerns about living conditions and medical care provided to asylum seekers arriving in Chicago.
Medical professionals have been concerned for months about the disjointed health care system, saying newcomers to the U.S. face a myriad of health problems. For many, the problems are related to their journey, including trauma, or to living in crowded group environments where infections spread easily and quickly.
Five-year-old Jean Carlos Martinez was living at a shelter in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood when he suffered a medical emergency and died shortly after arriving at Comer Children's Hospital on Sunday afternoon, the city said. Four more people living at the same shelter — a 1-year-old girl, a 4-year-old girl, an 8-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman — were hospitalized this week with fever, the Chicago Fire Department said.
They all lived in the same shelter as Martinez. The cause of death was still “pending” as of Tuesday, according to Cook County Medical Examiner records.
Diseases, including small outbreaks of chickenpox and foot-and-mouth disease, have spread through a number of shelters in Chicago, where people sleep close together on cots. Doctors in the area are increasingly concerned about RSV and COVID-19 this winter.
“These are difficult conditions for people to rest, feel good and take care of themselves,” said Dr. Evelyn Figueroa, who recently toured the shelter where the boy lived. She runs a nearby food bank and has spent most of her medical career working with the homeless, immigrants and low-income people.
About 2,300 people stay in the reception center, a former warehouse near the center. According to Figueroa, the space has about 10 isolation rooms in case people get sick.
Questions about the environment for migrants are emerging as Chicago moves to phase out the much-maligned practice of using police stations and airports to temporarily house migrants arriving in the city. However, the use of shelters — ranging from park district field houses to commercial spaces — has drawn the same criticism.
Residents have complained of inadequate heating, water leaks, expired food and overcrowded conditions closed to the public, including reporters and some volunteers who were critical in providing medical care at police stations.
More than 26,000 migrants arrived in Chicago by bus and plane in the past year, with about 14,000 currently in shelters. About 10,000 people have been resettled, which is the city's ultimate goal. Chicago recently imposed a 60-day limit on shelters, with the first round of evictions taking effect next month.
In another setback earlier this month, Gov. JB Pritzker's administration announced it was scrapping plans for a temporary winter camp for migrants in the Brighton Park neighborhood on the city's Southwest Side, citing the risk of contaminants at the former industrial site.
Some medical professionals worry that more migrants will end up back in police stations or on the streets.
“We will be needed again very soon,” said Sara Izquierdo, a medical student at the University of Illinois at Chicago who organized teams of medics to provide free care at police stations.
She and others argue the city hasn't done enough to provide basic care.
The city points to its partnership with Cook County, which last year set up a clinic exclusively for migrants on the city's northwest side. As many as 100 patients are seen per day for vaccines, routine health issues such as rashes and referrals for dental care or mental health issues.
City officials did not respond to requests for comment, including messages left Tuesday, about whether conditions at the shelter played a role in the child's death.
Mayor Brandon Johnson told reporters Monday that “the conditions in which people are arriving in Chicago are quite disturbing,” he said. “People show up under very extreme circumstances. Very unhealthy.”
He cited Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's practice of busing migrants to northern cities without notice and migrants' strenuous, dangerous journeys from their home countries as reasons for the health problems shelter residents face .
'They just drop people off everywhere. Do you understand how shabby and how bad that is? Johnson said.
He said city officials are “supporting the family and are still gathering information about this tragedy,” in an emailed statement Monday.
The shelters are run by a private staffing company, Favorite Healthcare Staffing, which provides basic health care and ambulance calls, according to city officials. At the Pilsen shelter, an organization from Chicago helped with medical care for a few hours a week.
The city has spent about $94 million on Favorite Healthcare's services — nearly 70% of its total expenditures, despite claims from critics that Favorite's costs are exorbitant and that shelter conditions and treatment of residents are poor. The company, which staffs the shelter where Martinez had been living, said they are working with the city and other authorities to investigate the incident.
“We are heartbroken to learn of the death of a child at a Pilsen shelter on Sunday, and we extend our deepest condolences to his loved ones and the community. We take the safety and well-being of all shelter residents seriously,” Vice President Keenan Driver said in an emailed statement.
The Chicago Department of Public Health said Tuesday it is participating in the city's investigation into Martinez's death.
A wake for the child and his family is planned for Wednesday evening.
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Savage is a staff member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
