As temperatures fall in Chicago, number of sick children sleeping outside of police stations increases, migrant advocates say
CHICAGO — Three-year-old José was having trouble breathing as he writhed on the cold, wet mattress inside his family’s tent near the River North police station.
It had snowed off and on all day, and ice coated the blue tarp that hung over tents lining North Larrabee Street. The moisture seeped up through the inflatable mattress.
“Duele, Duele. It hurts, it hurts,” he cried out shaking as his parents, José Urribarri, 48, and his wife Linda Bello, 28, wrapped him in multiple blankets and squeezed his little body between them.
The cold Tuesday evening brought the toddler to new levels of desperation, and his parents rushed him by foot to a nearby health clinic.
As temperatures plummeted this week, migrants interviewed by the Tribune recounted the number of children sheltering at Chicago’s police stations who needed medical care, perhaps signaling an ominous preview of what’s to come as winter looms and thousands of people shelter in and around the stations.
Over 20,000 migrants
