US government allows reporters to tour of a new facility for migrant minors in Texas. The conditions appeared clean, though the facility was under capacity and had been open for less than 2 weeks. - gabegutierrez
Only two dorm buildings are being used in this government-contracted shelter out of a possible eight. Four bunk beds are set up in each 186-square-foot room. Long trailers once used to house oil workers in two-bedroom suites have been converted into 12-person dorms.
The tour was highly controlled. Reporters were allowed to briefly speak with one 17-year-old from Mexico who said she’d been in the facility for 11 days. She was waiting to make a phone call. At a minimum, the HHS says the children get two 10-minute phone calls a week but usually much more. Another teenage girl from Guatemala said she’d been there for several days.
Those were Border Patrol stations in Texas and Arizona — holding facilities where migrants are processed by Customs and Border Protection before they’re turned over to the HHS. But critics argue that HHS facilities also lack adequate oversight and journalists aren’t often allowed in. According to the HHS, the average stay in its facilities is down to 45 days. That’s down from more than 90 days last November. HHS spokesman Mark Weber said the department is looking into opening new, more permanent facilities in five major cities: San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta and Phoenix. The agency is also hoping to close its facility in Homestead, Florida, due to declining numbers of migrants — but also due to logistical concerns over evacuations during hurricane season.
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