A migrant shelter located at 2241 S. Halsted Street. (WTTW News)

Mayor Brandon Johnson suspended the 60-day shelter limit for migrants for the third time since November this week, saying in a news conference that the city’s plan for temporary emergency shelter “was never meant as a long-term housing solution.”

A photo submitted to WTTW News shows a sewer cover next to beds at a migrant facility in Pilsen. (Submitted photo)

Emails from late October exclusively obtained by WTTW News shine new light on the timeline of when Mayor Brandon Johnson and his administration were made aware of conditions at a migrant shelter in Pilsen and what exactly those conditions were. 

People outside a migrant shelter in Pilsen. (WTTW News)
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Elected officials and community leaders are demanding federal aid to help address the needs of Chicago’s migrants. This plea follows the death of 5-year-old Jean Carlos Martinez Rivero — who was living at a migrant shelter in Pilsen.

Mayor Brandon Johnson looks on as Grace and Peace Church Pastor John Zayas speaks about efforts to help shelter the 1,250 migrants sleeping at Chicago police stations and at O’Hare International Airport on Nov. 28, 2023. (Heather Cherone / WTTW News)

Mayor Brandon Johnson touted what he called the “Unity Initiative” as his city officials announced that crews will start building the frame of a winterized base camp to shelter as many as 2,000 people near 38th Street and California Avenue as soon as Wednesday.