To deal with the surge in unaccompanied minor migrants crossing the southern border, the Biden administration is planning on housing up to 3,000 teenagers at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, The Associated Press reports.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing measures, there is limited space at immigration facilities, and last month, a temporary tent facility was reopened in Carrizo Springs, Texas, to hold up to 700 teens. AP obtained a memo sent to the Dallas City Council on Monday that states the convention center will be used to house boys ages 15 to 17, for up to 90 days. The government could start placing teens there as early as this week, the memo says.
In February, authorities encountered 9,457 unaccompanied minors crossing the border, the highest number since May 2019. The Border Patrol is only supposed to hold migrant children for up to three days, before transferring them to shelters run by the Department of Health and Human Services, but because there are so many minors in custody, more are being detained for longer periods of time. The convention center is being described as a "decompression center," AP reports, and will take pressure off the Border Patrol facilities.
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.
"I am incredibly proud of the agents of the Border Patrol, who have been working around the clock in difficult circumstances to take care of children temporarily in our care," Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement. "Yet, as I have said many times, a Border Patrol facility is no place for a child." In a statement, Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax said that "collective action is necessary, and we will do our best to support this humanitarian effort."
-
Trump sends FBI to patrol DC, despite falling crimeSpeed Read Washington, D.C., 'has become one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the world,' Trump said
-
Trump officials reinstating 2 Confederate monumentsSpeed Read The administration has plans to 'restore Confederate names and symbols' discarded in the wake of George Floyd's 2020 murder
-
Trump nominates Powell critic for vacant Fed seatspeed read Stephen Miran, the chair of Trump's Council of Economic Advisers and a fellow critic of Fed chair Jerome Powell, has been nominated to fill a seat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
-
ICE scraps age limits amid hiring pushSpeed Read Anyone 18 or older can now apply to be an ICE agent
-
Trump's global tariffs take effect, with new additionsSpeed Read Tariffs on more than 90 US trading partners went into effect, escalating the global trade war
-
House committee subpoenas Epstein filesSpeed Read The House Oversight Committee has issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for its Jeffrey Epstein files with an Aug. 19 deadline
-
India rejects Trump threat over Russian oilSpeed Read The president said he would raise tariffs on India for buying and selling Russian oil
-
NY's Hochul vows response to Texas gerrymanderSpeed Read Gov. Kathy Hochul has promised to play ball with redistricting that favors the Democrats
