Emergency Locations For Migrant Children Raise Safety, Health Concerns: Report

Safety and health concerns are being raised about locations for migrant children at the border as the Biden administration faces increasing pressure to address the situation.

According to reporting by the Associated Press, a site for oilfield workers was recently converted into a location for migrant children to be housed as more space was needed for people coming to the border. The U.S. government is reportedly no longer bringing migrant teenagers to the location as concerns have been raised over the well-being of children. The AP reports, “More than 10% of the camp’s population has tested positive for COVID-19 and at least one child had to be hospitalized.”

An official working at the location in Midland, Texas, told the Associated Press that most of the people volunteering for the Red Cross at the site don’t speak Spanish, while most of the adolescents that are being cared for at the location are from the Central America region. “When the facility opened, there weren’t enough new clothes to give to teenagers who had been wearing the same shirts and pants for several days, the official said.”

The official added that there was also not enough mental health care for the youths coming across the border to the site in Midland.

Beginning the process of welcoming teenagers while still creating fundamental services at the site “was kind of like building a plane as it’s taking off,” said the official, who reportedly declined to be named because of government restrictions.

According to an email viewed by the Associated Press, U.S. Health and Human Services told local authorities in Midland that it did not have further plans to transport more adolescents to the area. On Wednesday, 485 juveniles remained on site. 53 of those had tested positive for COVID-19, per the AP.

As reported by Fox News 4 Dallas, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assist in the management and care of children coming across the southern border on Saturday.

“I am incredibly proud of the agents of the Border Patrol, who have been working around the clock in difficult circumstances to take care of children temporarily in our care,” Mayorkas said in a statement. “Yet, as I have said many times, a Border Patrol facility is no place for a child.”

Houston Public Media reports that 200 adolescents were brought to the downtown Dallas convention center on Wednesday night. The convention center is set to hold up to 3,000 teenage boys between the ages of 15 to 17 for up to 90 days. HHS spokesperson Mark Weber said bringing more youths to Midland was on “pause for now,” per the AP.

The Biden administration has said that while it is expelling single adults and families from the U.S., it is not removing unaccompanied immigrant children from the country.

AP reports, “Several hundred a day are crossing the border, going first to often packed Border Patrol stations while they await placement in the HHS system.” HHS has enlisted the help of the American Red Cross in order to assist with teenagers in Dallas and Midland, a move that strays away from the typical practice of using hired and trained staff.

“Red Cross volunteers sit outside portable trailers in Midland to monitor the teenagers staying inside. Staff from HHS and the U.S. Public Health Service are also at both sites.” According to the AP, neither HHS nor the Red Cross would confirm if volunteers were required to pass FBI fingerprint checks, which are reportedly more extensive than typical background checks at the commercial level.

The Biden administration is facing increased scrutiny and criticism over the handling of the migrant crisis at the border. On Tuesday, The Daily Wire reported that the “number of unaccompanied children being held in detention facilities is more than 300 percent higher than previously known.”

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked about the situation by a reporter at a press conference on Monday. After Psaki pointed to former President Donald Trump’s policies, the reporter pressed, asking, “And I understand the idea of these facilities not being desired by children, but children being hungry, sleeping on the floor, not being allowed outside for days at a time, why is that acceptable to go on, even for one more day?” the reporter asked. “Why is that something that’s not being outlawed right now? How is the administration not stopping that today?”

“It’s not acceptable,” Psaki answered. “But I think the challenge here is that there are not that many options.”

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