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The Karnes County Residential Center in Karnes City, Texas, is one of three family detention centers the federal government operates. Drew Anthony Smith/Getty Images
The Biden administration is aiming to process and release migrant families arriving at the border seeking asylum more quickly within 72 hours by converting some detention facilities, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.
The objective is to turn them into processing centers where criminal background checks and full health screenings can be completed, before migrant parents and children are released with orders to appear in court.
Biden Administration Moves To Speed Up Processing Of Migrants In Family Detention
at 5:28 pm NPR
The Biden administration is aiming to process and release migrant families arriving at the border seeking asylum more quickly â within 72 hours â by converting some detention facilities, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.
The objective is to turn them into processing centers where criminal background checks and full health screenings can be completed, before migrant parents and children are released with orders to appear in court.
A possibility under discussion is eventually providing COVID-19 vaccinations as part of the broader essential services, including medical care and other vaccinations, that are typically offered to asylum applicants before they are released.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced last week that it would make changes to two family detention centers in Texas that would result in families spending less time in detention. The agency states that the facilities will be turned into “reception centers,” where families receive COVID-19 tests, arrange travel to their destination, and are released within three days.
The plan would be a significant improvement compared to what tens of thousands of families have experienced. Even so, there are doubts as to whether the plan will work as described. There are also serious concerns with holding families for any amount of time.
Attorney describes conditions faced by ICE detainees during Texas winter storms
About 300 people are being held at one of ICE s largest facilities, and they had to contend with overflowing toilets and freezing temperatures during the storm Author: Anastasiya Bolton Updated: 6:18 PM CST February 25, 2021
DILLEY, Texas Overflowing toilets, freezing temperatures, one bottle of water per person for an entire day, frozen food and milk are the conditions some ICE detainees described to their immigration attorneys the week a winter storm hit Texas.
“Nothing seems to shock me in immigration anymore,” said Allison Herre, managing attorney for Proyecto Dilley, which represents families held at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dilley, Texas. “It s been a very eventful last four years in the immigration world.”