Joe Biden's government to close some shelters for migrant children

US hired companies with a record to house migrant children 4:13

(CNN) -

 The Biden administration is preparing to close some emergency shelters for unaccompanied migrant children just weeks after considering expanding one of the sites.

The move comes as a result of children's testimonies shedding light on the poor conditions at some of the sites and opening the administration to criticism from immigration advocates and attorneys.

During the spring, the Biden administration erected more than a dozen so-called emergency intake sites to ease overcrowding at border facilities and accommodate a record number of unaccompanied migrant children.

Among the largest is a facility at Fort Bliss near El Paso, Texas, which has a potential capacity of up to 10,000 beds.

Lawyers who previously visited the facility have likened it to a "storage" of hundreds of migrant minors.

In court filings filed last week, children generally reported being allowed outdoor recreation for "just one hour a day."

Also, they had little or no privacy, slept during the day to pass the time, and had limited calls with family.

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Convention center will house migrant minors 0:38

Officials previously discussed doubling the population at Fort Bliss, from 5,000 to as many as 10,000 children, which could make an already difficult situation even worse.

Now the Department of Health and Human Services, which is in charge of the care of migrant children, is weighing how and when Fort Bliss will close, among other temporary sites, Secretary Xavier Becerra told reporters on Monday.

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But looming over those decisions is uncertainty about how many unaccompanied children will arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border in the coming weeks, after a surge earlier this year left the Biden administration struggling and facing media scrutiny. on border management.

Order of Biden and Harris

In May, the Border Patrol encountered 13,906 unaccompanied migrant children along the southern U.S. border, slightly fewer than in April and March, according to the latest data available from Customs and Border Protection.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to visit the Fort Bliss site, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told Juan Carlos on Monday. CNN's Lopez.

Unaccompanied migrant minors flood ICE shelters 2:48

"The President and Vice President have directed Xavier Becerra to ensure that HHS facilities that house unaccompanied children meet the highest standards of federal law," Mayorkas said.

Becerra's visit to the El Paso region, which came in the immediate aftermath of Harris' trip to the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday, was part of a series of visits to HHS facilities, he told reporters. Monday, declining to say whether it was due to reports of unsatisfactory conditions.

"This visit today was to see the continued progress we have made," Becerra said, noting that he has visited Fort Bliss before.

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"As for reports or allegations of neglect or abuse, we handle them immediately, whenever we receive the reports," he said.

"We take care of each one as they come," he added.

There are currently 790 unaccompanied migrant children at the facility.

That's less than a previous high of 4,400 children.

As of Sunday, there were 14,233 children in HHS care, according to government data.

The greatest stress of migrant children

Carlos Holguín, one of the attorneys who visited the intake sites, said in a court file that "the stressor most frequently reported by children at Fort Bliss was not knowing how long they would be separated from their loved ones."

“The children I spoke to seemed visibly distressed as they recounted how they felt to see more and more children with whom they had come to Fort Bliss liberated.

They wondered if they had just fallen through the cracks and been forgotten, "he said in a statement.

HHS has a licensed capacity of about 13,500 beds equipped with a wide variety of services, such as education and recreation, but given the capacity constraints related to the pandemic, the Department has had to rely on temporary sites to accommodate children. .

As the number of children decreases, the Department is increasingly relying on its authorized bed capacity and trying to increase it.

There are more children in licensed beds than in emergency admission sites, Becerra said Monday.

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“We will continue to reduce emergency admission sites as we can accommodate the children we currently have or plan to have.

But we have to have a place where they can stay, because we all agree that adult detention centers at [Customs and Border Protection] are not the place for children and we are certainly not interested in having children alone, without know where they are, "said Becerra.

He then added that the dates the leases end will dictate when the sites close in some cases.

Sites at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas and the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio have now closed.

Emergency shelters for migrant children

In general, the emerging facilities took the form of emergency shelters, offering basic needs but falling short of providing other services, such as education and case management, to the hundreds of children housed at the sites.

Conditions at emergency intake sites can vary, and change regularly, but in some cases, the rapid pace at which they were established contributed to their deficiencies.

“In the rush to try to get the Border Patrol kids into this, they've gone places, they've gotten companies, contractors that, in my opinion, don't have the experience.

But they were in such a rush to get them out of the Border Patrol facility and claim victory, "said Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar of Texas.

Harris's balance after visiting the US-Mexico border 4:02

In Houston, the National Association of Christian Churches, which had been helping house migrant children, abruptly closed in April.

The girls who stayed in the facility described fainting, inadequate or lack of food, insufficient clean clothing and restrictions that prevented them from using the bathroom after 10 p.m., according to statements.

A troubling fact

An incident that alarmed migrant teens at the Houston facility has also been reviewed by the HHS inspector general for "appropriate action," according to the IG director of communications.

“Some of the girls in my section found out that there was a woman who showed up in the middle of the night who was not working at the facility.

The woman tried to take a girl away, but one of the guards stopped her.

There was a van with two men smoking outside, "said a 17-year-old woman from El Salvador in a testimony.

“I heard that one of the girls was almost kidnapped by a lady dressed in black.

The girl was able to escape, but the people who were trying to kidnap her said they would come back for her.

It scared me and it scared everyone, ”said a 17-year-old teenager from Honduras in another statement.

HHS referred the matter to the inspector general for investigation, according to a family source.

Tesia Williams, Communications Director for the HHS Office of the Inspector General, told CNN that the inspector general was receiving the referral and that it has been reviewed to determine "appropriate action."

When asked about the incident, HHS said it "takes its humanitarian mission seriously."

They denounce conditions of immigrant minors in custody 2:58

“All reports of abuse or misconduct by contractors, federal personnel, or volunteers are treated with the utmost seriousness.

They require care providers to report and document all major incidents in accordance with mandatory reporting laws, state licensing requirements, federal laws and regulations, and ORR [Office of Refugee Resettlement] policies and procedures.

The safety and protection of every child in our care is always our top priority, "the Department said in a statement to CNN.

Becerra said Monday that HHS broke contracts with those who do not meet the Department's standards.

Immigrants Joe Biden migrant children