The temporary overflow facility for unaccompanied migrant children will be opened in Pecos, Texas.
What We Know:
- On Saturday, the Biden administration declared they would be opening a new location for migrant youths. The Target Lodge Pecos North ICF department will begin housing 500 children. They also intend on possibly extending the number of minors to 2,000.
- The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced in a statement that the location would be “hard-sided” instead of tented. They also said that additional “semi-permanent and soft-sided” capacity would be added if necessary. According to the HHS, they are working with their interagency partners to quickly ensure the youths will be connected to their families or sponsors.
- The number of unaccompanied children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border has increased notably in the past few weeks. Axios claims that the number will rise exponentially throughout the spring. This influx comes after federal judges banned Biden’s 100-day deportation pause.
- The extra migrants have strained the United States government’s sheltering abilities. Last week, the Biden urged potential immigrants to stay in their homes while they figured out the sanctuary situation. The Biden administration was also called out for asking Mexico to curb people traveling to the border, a move reflecting Trump-era policies.
- The Pecos division will be a stop for migrant children before being transferred to resettlement shelters. They will have educational, medicinal, and recreational services at their next location until they are reunited with family members or matched with sponsors.
- As of Saturday, there were 5,049 solitary minors in border patrol custody. There were also a total of 9,830 immigrants of all ages in confinement. It grew rapidly from Thursday, as there were reportedly 4,615 unaccompanied children and 7,970 immigrants being supervised by border patrol.
President Biden has stated said he is working on having facilities become available to the travelers soon, along with making sure they can apply for asylum safely.
