PILSEN — A 5-year-old in the city’s largest migrant shelter was in Chicago less than three weeks before he became sick and died, city officials said.
Jean Carlos Martinez Rivero died about 3:45 p.m. Sunday at Comer Children’s Hospital. Paramedics had taken him to the hospital from the migrant shelter at 2241 S. Halsted St., officials said.
Jean Carlos and his family arrived at the city’s landing zone for migrants Nov. 30 and were taken to the Halsted Street shelter the same day, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office said in a statement Tuesday.
On Sunday, the boy’s family left the shelter “for part of the morning and early afternoon” and returned to the shelter about 2:30 p.m., according to the city.
About 13 minutes later, staff at the shelter “witnessed a medical emergency,” called 911 and did chest compressions on Jean Carlos until paramedics arrived, according to the city.
Jean Carlos was pronounced dead at the hospital, officials said.
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office has not yet determined a cause of death, according to its case database.
City officials said it did not appear Jean Carlos died of an infectious disease.
Paramedics also were called to the shelter several times Monday to tend to sick migrants, four of them children who had to be hospitalized with fevers, according to Fire Department officials and the Sun-Times.
A 1-year-old girl was taken to University of Illinois Hospital, and a 4-year-old girl and an 8-year-old girl were taken to Insight Hospital and Medical Center, according to a tweet from the department. A 9-year-old girl also was hospitalized with similar symptoms, the Sun-Times reported.
An 18-year-old woman also was hospitalized at Insight with a fever, officials said.
Johnson’s office said there’s no evidence of an outbreak at the shelter and Jean Carlos’ death was not connected to the other children who were ill. Other people who were hospitalized have already been released from the hospital “with respiratory virus symptoms,” according to the Mayor’s Office.
“The cases do not appear related other than having originated in the same shelter, and symptoms are consistent with ongoing seasonal respiratory trends,” according to the city.
Migrants have reported substandard conditions at the Pilsen shelter. The six-story building opened to migrants in October and was housing about 2,300 people as of earlier this month, according to city documents.
Migrants recently told Borderless Magazine the building is frigid, dusty, cramped and has dirty bathrooms and sometimes spoiled food. They also reported mistreatment from shelter workers and outbreaks of chickenpox, the flu and upper respiratory infections spreading without sufficient medical attention.
Johnson called the boy’s death “tragic” and said city officials are providing support to Jean Carlos’ family.
“My heart and my prayers go out to the Martinez family,” the mayor said Monday. “The city will continue to provide resources and support to them during this difficult time.”
Chicago has received over 26,000 migrants since August 2022, according to city data.
The volume of people arriving daily has overwhelmed the city’s systems of care. Earlier this year, the city began placing migrants at police stations while they waited for a spot at one of the city shelters or could connect with family and friends.
For months, people were living on the floor of police station lobbies. Once those were full, people crowded outside in makeshift shelters and tents.
As colder weather descended on Chicago in October, Johnson’s administration, facing criticism over its handling of the crisis, began phasing out the use of police stations. The city has opened more shelters in leased buildings and partnered with more than a dozen churches to temporarily house people.
There are now 13,970 migrants staying in 27 city-run shelters.
“All temporary emergency shelters that have been opened were selected due to the large capacity they can safely serve; the facility is in good condition, requires minimal upgrades and are available for emergency activation within a short timeframe,” according to the Mayor’s Office. “With the fluid nature of this endeavor, and the high number of individuals arriving each day it is vital we provide safe, secure and temporary emergency shelter for asylum seekers to receive necessary services to resettle in Chicago or another destination with dignity.”
During an unrelated press conference Monday afternoon, Johnson said many asylum seekers are arriving in Chicago already sick, and the city was marshaling “all of our levels of government” to provide care for them.
“While children and women were living on floors in police districts — and my administration eliminated that practice — there were ambulatory runs, 911 calls, because, again, people are showing up in very extreme circumstances, very, very unhealthy,” Johnson said.
In an updated statement, Johnson said all newly arrived migrants can receive transportation to Cook County Health “for a medical intake or a sick visit.”
The city’s health department works with Heartland Alliance Health and Lawndale Christian Health Center to provide on-site medical care for migrants, and teams from UI Health and Rush Medical Center have been sent to shelters as needed to address “outbreak responses,” according to the city. Those health care providers visit the Pilsen shelter twice a week to provide vaccinations and testing, officials said.
Migrants who spoke to Borderless Magazine said a pop-up clinic comes in for a few hours every eight days to provide medical help, but people do not receive much medical care during those short visits. Migrants said they have endured long waits only to not receive any treatment.
“A lot of people have gotten sick,” one migrant told Borderless. “A woman had to have surgery because she got a parasite in the pancreas or the liver. … Her husband said he was going to sue them.”
Johnson said the city is “at a critical point in the humanitarian crisis.” He has blasted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for sending migrants to Chicago without any level of coordination and “invoking chaos.”
Last week, the City Council approved an ordinance to fine and impound buses dropping off migrants without warning and somewhere other than the city’s designated landing zone in South Loop.
Over the weekend, buses began dropping people off outside city limits and giving them bus and train tickets to Chicago, the Tribune reported. Cristina Pacione-Zayas, Johnson’s deputy chief of staff, told the Tribune this is an attempt to circumvent the city’s stricter law on “rogue” buses.
Support Local News!
Subscribe to Block Club Chicago, an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods. Already subscribe? Click here to gift a subscription, or you can support Block Club with a tax-deductible donation.
Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast:
