New Government Shelters Open Their Doors To Migrant Children
The federal government is opening three new shelters in the coming months to house an increasing number of migrant children coming across the southern U.S. border.
The first is expected to open next week in a facility within Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, New Mexico, according to Andrea Helling, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). She said the military base will begin by receiving 250 migrant children, most of whom are fleeing gang violence in Central America, and will have a capacity to house up to 700.
Two more shelters are scheduled to open within government facilities in Florida and Colorado by April. The children will be transported by bus or van from one of the 100 other shelters run by HHS. Helling said they'll undergo medical screening, including a mental health assessment, before being sent to the new shelters.
On average, she said, children spend 32 days at the shelter, and most are reunited with family members already in the U.S. while they await hearings before an immigration court.
Border Patrol agents apprehended 17,000 unaccompanied children from October to December, more than double the amount they apprehended during the same period in 2014. To meet the demand for space, HHS relied on temporary shelters at churches and non-profit organizations in Texas.
