Washington — The Biden administration is reopening a site near the border with Mexico to house migrant children who enter the country without their parents as the federal government struggles to accommodate an increase in migration there, two U.S. officials familiar with the matter told CBS News Thursday.
According to anonymous U.S. officials, an ex-work camp in Carrizo Springs, Texas, will be utilized as a site to accommodate unaccompanied migrant children in federal custody starting this Friday. It should be noted that this location was previously employed in 2021 to house migrant teenagers, but for the current situation, it will feature enhanced facilities and improved standards of care.
It will be the second time in less than two months that the Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, has reopened a so-called “influx care facility” for unaccompanied children, who have been crossing the U.S. southern border in larger numbers in recent weeks. Last month, HHS restarted housing migrant children at another former work camp for oil workers in Pecos, Texas, that was at the center of reports of poor conditions in 2021.
According to federal regulations, U.S. border officials are required to hand over unaccompanied children who are not from Mexico to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) within 72 hours after processing them. HHS is legally obligated to provide care for these children until they reach the age of majority or until they can be placed with a sponsor in the U.S., typically a family member.
Throughout history, migrant children have been accommodated by HHS in shelters authorized by state child welfare authorities. However, in recent years, as border crossings have increased under both Republican and Democratic administrations, the department has resorted to utilizing “influx care facilities” and other locations with greater capacity to house these children. Unlike conventional shelters, these influx sites are not licensed by states to accommodate minors.
The housing facility in Carrizo Springs, located in Dimmit County, Texas, has been reopened by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), a division of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This confirmation was made by HHS in a statement released on Friday. Carrizo Springs is the largest town in the sparsely populated Dimmit County.
According to a statement from HHS to CBS News, the priority of ORR is to place children into standard care provider facilities. However, it is still necessary to have access to Influx Care Facility (ICF) capacity to ensure that ORR can quickly accept referrals when its other network facilities become full or near capacity.
Since the beginning of summer, there has been a significant rise in the number of migrant children crossing the U.S. southern border. This increase is part of a larger surge in migrant arrivals, which has put a strain on federal, state, and local resources, including major cities like New York and Chicago.
According to internal data obtained by CBS News, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) received over 12,000 migrant children in September and 13,000 in August. This is in comparison to approximately 9,400 children received in July. As per federal figures, HHS is currently housing 10,960 unaccompanied minors, which marks a 75% increase from early July when it had around 6,000 migrant children in its custody.
Record numbers of migrant children have crossed the U.S. southern border over the past two years, creating significant logistical and humanitarian challenges to the Biden administration. In fiscal year 2022, HHS received a record 128,904 unaccompanied minors, up from 122,731 in the prior year, agency statistics show. The vast majority of these children have hailed from northern Central America.
Following Mr. Biden’s inauguration in January 2021, there was a significant increase in child migration, resulting in hazardous overcrowding within the limited Border Patrol facilities designated for temporarily accommodating migrant children and families. To address this issue, the administration swiftly established impromptu shelters in convention centers, military bases, and work camps. One of these facilities, the Dimmit Emergency Intake Site, is scheduled to commence operations this week.
Some emergency shelters were successful in alleviating overcrowding in border facilities, but unfortunately, a number of them faced allegations, including reports from internal whistleblowers, highlighting subpar living conditions, insufficient services, and emotional distress experienced by the children residing there.
At a tent complex inside the Fort Bliss Army base in west Texas, concerns about the mental health of migrant children housed there were so distressing that officials constantly monitored them for escape attempts and panic attacks. The children were also prohibited from having toothbrushes or other ordinary items that they could potentially use to harm themselves.
Children in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are not held in detention centers or cells resembling jails. Although there are a few facilities designed for troubled youth with stricter regulations, the majority of unaccompanied children under the care of HHS are accommodated in shelters that offer educational, recreational, medical, and mental health support.
