Biden administration to house migrant teens at overflow facility in Texas closed under Trump

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WASHINGTON – The Biden administration plans to reopen a controversial overflow facility to house unaccompanied migrant teens as the government grapples with the possibility of heightened apprehensions at the US-Mexico border amid the COVID pandemic 19.

The Carrizo Springs, Texas facility will accommodate up to 700 migrant children over the next two weeks, according to a statement released Tuesday by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, the Department of Health and Human Services agency responsible. migrant children. The Influx temporary care center will be used for children aged 13 and over who have been medically cleared of COVID-19, the statement said.

The move came after President Joe Biden signed a series of executive orders aimed at unraveling the Trump administration’s sweeping immigration policies, including the creation of a task force to reunite children separated from their parents or guardians at the border as part of President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy.

As he seeks to keep his election promise to quickly reverse Trump’s immigration actions, Biden faces hurdles due to increased apprehensions of migrants on the Southwest border and reduced capacity of facilities due to COVID-19 issues.

A White House official said the flow of unaccompanied minors arriving at the border preceded the Biden administration, but said the pandemic posed a challenge when it came to the maximum number of children a establishment may contain.

“The pandemic is forcing us to rethink the capacity and be extremely careful about the COVID-19 protocol and social distancing, not only in the context of unaccompanied minors, but also the processes and attendance of staff who are going to review a potential installation, ”the official said. , who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The other two orders signed on Tuesday call for a review of Trump-era immigration policies – rather than ending those practices – including the “Migrant Protection Protocols,” or the Stay in Mexico policy that forced them to stay in Mexico. migrant asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while waiting to plead their case before a judge.

The administration has avoided questions about its plans for Title 42, a public health bill invoked by former President Trump amid an increase in COVID-19 cases that allows border officials to quickly deport them. unauthorized migrants without due process.

In November, a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from deporting migrant children who had crossed the border alone, but an appeals court on Friday overturned the decision. The Biden administration, however, has no plans to deport unaccompanied children at the border, according to the administration official.

The Carrizo Springs facility was closed in July 2019 after the Trump administration faced a backlash due to poor conditions in the temporary facilities, or “tent cities,” where unaccompanied children were being held .

The Refugee Resettlement Office called the first step to prevent unaccompanied children from remaining under border patrol care, adding that this would “ensure that children are placed in an appropriate setting where they can receive care and services. , such as education, medical and psychiatric care. health care, counseling, recreation and access to legal services. ”

Under the Flores Settlement Agreement, the result of a federal class action lawsuit involving young immigrants, most unaccompanied immigrant minors who cross the border, with or without permission, must be transferred to a government shelter under the auspices of the Refugee resettlement office, usually within 20 days.

Migrant children detained at Carrizo Springs are expected to be turned over to a sponsor within 30 days, the statement said.

Linda Brandmiller, a San Antonio immigration lawyer who frequently represents unaccompanied minors, said she was surprised to learn of the reopening of Carrizo Springs. She said she was not aware of an influx of young people at the border and did not know why they would need them. ORR facilities typically have childcare facilities, are designed for children, and most importantly, are state licensed and state controlled – none of the so called “influx facilities” like the Carrizo Springs usually doesn’t have one, she said.

“They fall through the cracks of surveillance, which is why we are very concerned about creating these types of systems,” Brandmiller said.

She added: “There is no reason to store these children in these potentially dangerous facilities.”

The reopening of the Carrizo Springs facility highlighted the immigration challenges facing Biden.

His administration last month ended migrant protection protocols, also known as “Stay in Mexico,” where migrants were forced to wait for their hearing on US immigration to Mexico. But difficult questions remain, including whether to allow the more than 20,000 migrants gathered in makeshift Mexican border camps and where to lodge them once they cross the border.

And if the Biden administration ends the swift deportations, it will also need a place to house the immigrants who remain in this country, a task made doubly difficult by the spacing requirements of the COVID-19 protocols.

Biden faced a similar crisis as vice president in 2014, when the Obama administration cracked down on immigration amid an influx of unaccompanied migrants, most of them from Central America. Former President Barack Obama has come under scrutiny for mass evictions and the use of temporary facilities to house children and families.

Plus:Asylum seekers at US-Mexico border see hope in Biden administration’s immigration changes

Denise Bell, refugee and migrant rights researcher at Amnesty International USA, has warned that the United States must limit the length of children’s detention in these facilities.

“The United States government must ensure that children are released quickly, are not detained in these temporary facilities and have all access to health care and protection against COVID-19,” she said. declared.

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