U.S. reopens temporary facility for migrant children in Texas


The Biden administration is reactivating an emergency migrant child facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas, due to an influx of unaccompanied minors crossing the southern border and capacity limits at permanent shelters due to COVID-19.
During the Trump administration, the facility was open for one month in the summer of 2019. Today, it will hold up to 700 migrant teens. Mark Weber, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, told The Washington Post the temporary operation is based on the federal emergency management system and will keep migrant kids out of Border Patrol facilities, where holding cells are designed for adults.
The U.S. has 13,200 beds for migrant kids, but only half can be used because of social distancing measures. In January, more than 5,700 unaccompanied minors were apprehended crossing the southern border, and as of Sunday, there are 7,000 migrant kids in U.S. custody. The Carrizo Springs facility will "meet or exceed" Texas licensing standards, Weber said, and is run by the nonprofit BCFS Health and Human Services.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"If we could find another way, that'd be great," Weber told the Post. "On the flip side, these kids just come in and they're turned loose on the street, they end up being homeless kids."
President Biden has used executive orders to rescind some of Trump's hardline immigration policies, and some immigration lawyers, advocates, and lawmakers are wondering why he would open a migrant child facility linked to the Trump administration. "It's unnecessary, it's costly, and it goes absolutely against everything Biden promised he was going to do," attorney Linda Brandmiller told the Post. "It's a step backward, is what it is. It's a huge step backward." Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) agreed, tweeting, "This is not okay, never has been okay, never will be okay — no matter the administration or party."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Judge nixes wiping medical debt from credit checks
Speed Read Medical debt can now be included in credit reports
-
Grijalva wins Democratic special primary for Arizona
Speed Read She will go up against Republican nominee Daniel Butierez to fill the US House seat her father held until his death earlier this year
-
US inflation jumps as Trump tariffs 'bite'
Speed Read Consumer prices are climbing and the inflation rate rose to its highest level in four months
-
SCOTUS greenlights mass DOE firings
Speed Read The Supreme Court will allow the Trump administration to further shrink the Education Department
-
Cuomo announces third-party run for NYC mayor
Speed Read He will go up against progressive Democratic powerhouse Zohran Mamdani and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams
-
Secret Service 'failures' on Trump shooting
Speed Read Two new reports detail security breakdowns that led to attempts on the president's life
-
Trump set to hit Canada with 35% tariffs
Speed Read The president accused Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney of failing to stop the cross-border flow of fentanyl
-
Mahmoud Khalil files $20M claim over ICE detention
Speed Read This is the 'first damages complaint' brought by an individual targeted by the Trump's administration's 'crackdown' on Gaza war protesters