Three-level bunks and mats on floors as migrant kids wait in Border Patrol facilities amid surge
Children are alternating schedules to make space for one another in confined facilities, some kids haven’t seen sunlight in days, and others are taking turns showering, often going days without one.
That’s the reality for the thousands of unaccompanied migrant children held up in US Border Patrol custody for days on end, according to case managers, attorneys and Border Patrol agents.
Bunk beds have been brought in to one of the processing facilities to help accommodate the influx of children. “Some of those are up to three bunks high,” an agent told CNN, adding that children are also sleeping on plastic cots and mats on the floor and benches.
By Karina Macias
Mar 16, 2021
Moffett Field in Mountain View was surrounded by a rally of people on March 15 after they got word officials were thinking of housing unaccompanied migrant children at the facility. Many people showed up in solidarity with signs saying Kids Don t Belong In Cages , F ICE , and Stop Family Separation .
Currently, the law requires unaccompanied minors to be in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement and are legally required to care for the children until a parent or close relative can take them. According to the Biden administration, these facilities are required because of the overcapacity at other facilities due to coronavirus.
Immigration Statistics Fast Facts
Legal Immigration Statistics Mexico = 153,502 California = 193,093
Residents becoming naturalized citizens in 2019 had spent a median of eight years in lawful permanet resident (LPR) status. Immigrants born in Africa had the shortest wait time, six years, while those from North America had the longest wait time, 10 years.
Undocumented Immigration Statistics Mexico = 6.6 million
16 Mar 2021
Citing a report he did not specifically name, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) said over the weekend that minor migrants who are in the country illegally are being mistreated in facilities where they are being temporarily housed.
“I just read a report that some of the children don’t have food, they aren’t being able to shower, they’re being held for more than 72 hours without going to Office of Refugee Resettlement, they aren’t being given access to lawyers,” Khanna said in an interview on MSNBC’s
This Week with Joshua Johnson.
“These are human rights violations,” Khanna said. “We need to expedite and make sure they’re allowed to apply for asylum. We need to expedite their reunification with families, and put them in a place that isn’t behind bars as unaccompanied minors and at least has food and proper shelter.”
Julia Reihs/KUT We had over 100,000 people that were encountered by Border Patrol last month. And we still have to hit the high marks, which are March, April, May and June – that s usually when the numbers get very, very high, Cuellar tells Texas Standard.
Federal agencies in charge of immigration at the southern border have limited resources because of the pandemic and have faced challenges in recent weeks as a growing number of unaccompanied young migrants surrender themselves to U.S. officials.
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D) represents Texas’ 28th Congressional District.
Democratic congressman from Laredo, Henry Cuellar, is following the story closely. Cuellar, whose district stretches from San Antonio to McAllen in the Rio Grande Valley, told Texas Standard that U.S. Health and Human Services – the agency that houses and matches unaccompanied migrant children with sponsors in the United States – doesn’t have the space needed to house every child released from Border Patro