Chicago’s health officials say that Jean Carlos Martinez, a five-year-old boy who was staying in a migrant center in Pilson died on Sunday. He had complained of stomach pains before he passed out.
Four other children, including an 18-year-old woman, fell ill in the same shelter and were transported to hospital on Monday. Before the death of the child, the shelter was the subject of complaints about unsanitary and unsafe living conditions. The city shelter’s ability to feed the migrants is also in question.
The Pilsen Shelter is a warehouse converted into a shelter that was opened in October. Favorite Health Staffing runs the shelter, which currently houses more than 2,000 migrants.
Favorite health staffing is embroiled in controversy after records were revealed that showed a shelter manager earning $15,000 per week, and a nurse earning $20,000 within a single week. There have been questions raised regarding how many staff are working in these shelters, and what they do to care for migrants.
The conditions in the Pilsen shelter/warehouse are horrendous.
Chicago Tribune:
Annie Gomberg is a volunteer leader who helped migrants temporarily stay at the Austin District (15th), police station. She expressed concern about the impact this could have on the other children living in the warehouse. She woke up wondering what else could have been done.
The migrants sent her video footage of the conditions inside the shelter, which included sick children crying and the ceiling leakage. Mold and freezing temperatures were also reported by migrants.
“We weren’t able to provide this child with adequate medical care,” Gomberg stated that we must stop the suffering.
Gomberg was informed that the police officers who arrived at the scene on Sunday afternoon requested the city to close the shelter due to its unlivable condition.
Mayor Brandon Johnson blames Governor Abbott of Texas for the death of the boy. He told reporters on Monday that, “we are deeply sorry for this loss and we’re hurt by it”, but the city is not to blame.
“They just drop people off anywhere.” You know how disgusting and evil this is, and yet you want us to be held responsible for what’s going on at the border. The mayor called it “sickening”.
Johnson responded, “It seems like you are drawing conclusions based on a single site.” Johnson refused to answer the question about whether Favorite Staffing provided medical care for the boy.
“Do you hear me? “They’re coming in sick.” It’s not just about how we respond to the situation in Chicago. It’s also about the governor of Texas, who is putting families on buses with no shoes, without food, and in a cold, wet environment.
Johnson is the only mayor in America who can “hysteria”.
A disturbing news item: Favorite Health employees are refusing to allow volunteers into the Pilsen Shelter to distribute over-the-counter medicine such as Tylenol. Some people claim that staffers did not call an ambulance until it was already too late for the boy.
Abhishek Dahar, a doctor who assisted migrants at police stations, says that staff are not providing adequate health care to the migrants.
He said that even if migrants do seek help, they will not be able to get it until they are very sick. “Right Now (migrants), they have very little contact with medical professionals until their clinic visits.”
A chicken pox outbreak in the city has been caused by unvaccinated migrants.
