Plane carrying migrants from Texas arrives at Chicago's O'Hare Airport

A spokesperson for the city confirmed officials received a call around 7:15 p.m. stating that a "private plane chartered by the Texas Department of Emergency Management" had landed at the airport and left roughly 100 migrants

A plane carrying dozens of asylum-seekers arrived at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport Tuesday evening, having traveled to the city unannounced from Texas, officials said.

A spokesperson for the city confirmed officials received a call around 7:15 p.m. stating that a “private plane chartered by the Texas Department of Emergency Management” had landed at the airport and left roughly 100 migrants at Signature Flight.

Two people who flew with the plane reportedly fled Signature Flight and left the scene in an Uber before police arrived, the spokesperson said.

The city said the flight originated from El Paso, Texas.

In a statement from Gov. Greg Abbotts’ office, his press secretary confirmed Texas is “expanding our operation to include flights to Chicago.”

“Because Mayor Johnson is failing to live up to his city’s ‘Welcoming City’ ordinance by targeting migrant buses from Texas, we are expanding our operation to include flights to Chicago, like the Biden Administration has been doing across the country. Governor Abbott launched the border bus mission in April 2022 to provide support to our overrun and overwhelmed border communities as the Biden Administration leaves thousands of migrants in their towns,” Press Secretary Andrew Mahaleris said in a statement. “Until President Biden steps up and does his job to secure the border, Texas will continue taking historic action to help our local partners respond to this Biden-made crisis.”

The city is working to find space in its shelter system for any asylum seekers staying at O’Hare Airport, officials said.

As of 8 a.m. Wednesday, the city reported 14,094 migrants in 27 active shelters, with 314 awaiting placement. In total, more than 26,000 migrants have come to Chicago.

The plane, however, marks a shift from the buses the city has come to expect.

It also follows tragedy surrounding a city shelter that left many questioning.

The death of a 5-year-old migrant boy and reported illnesses in other children living at a Pilsen warehouse retrofitted as a shelter has raised fresh concerns about the living conditions and medical care provided for asylum-seekers arriving in Chicago.

Medical professionals have worried for months about the disjointed healthcare system, saying new arrivals in the U.S. face numerous health issues. For many, the problems are either related to their journey, including trauma, or from living in crowded group settings where infections spread easily and quickly.

Five-year-old Jean Carlos Martinez was a resident at a shelter in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood when he suffered a medical emergency, then was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at Comer Children’s Hospital on Sunday afternoon, the city said.

Six more people living in the shelter — four children and two adults — were hospitalized for illnesses this week, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

All had been living in the same shelter as Martinez, whose family arrived in Chicago on Nov. 30, the city said. The cause of death was still “pending” on Tuesday, according to Cook County medical examiner records.

In a statement sent Tuesday afternoon, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office confirmed that the cause of the child’s death remains under investigation – but that the child “does not appear to have died from an infectious disease, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health, and there is no evidence of an outbreak at the shelter. The CDPH team will continue to evaluate the situation.”

City officials also said that the other illnesses do not appear to have originated in the same shelter and “are consistent with ongoing seasonal respiratory trends.”

NBC 5 Investigates reached out to both the Chicago Department of Public Health and the Cook County Health Department with questions about the conditions inside and reports of additional illnesses on Tuesday. So far, neither organization has responded to our questions.