A 3-year-old child died Thursday aboard a bus of asylum-seekers sent to Chicago, the Illinois Department of Public Health confirmed.
The child died while entering the Chicago area, IDPH wa Lauri Sanders said. The spokesperson said she was unable to share more information or circumstances regarding the child’s death.
“IDPH is working with local health officials, state police, and federal authorities to the fullest extent possible to get answers in this tragic situation,” Sanders said in a statement Thursday evening.
Chicago has received at least 176 buses and more than 12,000 people in the 11 months since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began sending migrants from Texas to the city last year. The city of Denver and Catholic Charities in San Antonio have also sent buses of migrants to Chicago.
The busloads have contributed to a humanitarian crisis as the thousands of newly arrived people stretch city resources. Migrants have filled police station lobbies and large shelters across Chicago. Nearly 6,000 migrants resided in city-run temporary shelters at the start of August, while about 1,000 awaited placement.
[ 52 days on the road: A migrant family’s desperate journey to Chicago ]
City leaders have criticized the groups behind the buses for not cooperating and sending people in need to a city with dwindling resources. Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot demanded Abbott halt plans to once again bus migrants in April.
“These individuals and families were packed onto buses and shipped across the country like freight without regard to their personal circumstances,” Lightfoot wrote.
