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The St Kitts Nevis Observer
By Hilary Andersson and Anne Laurent BBC News, Texas
The US has a vast system of detention sites scattered across the country, holding more than 20,000 migrant children. In a special investigation, the BBC has uncovered allegations of cold temperatures, sickness, neglect, lice and filth, through a series of interviews with children and staff.
It was midnight on the Rio Grande – the imposing river that forms the border between Texas and Mexico – and lights began to flash on the Mexican side. Voices could be heard in the darkness. Figures emerged, got into a small raft, and began to cross the river.
Children speak of sickness and neglect in US asylum camps bbc.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bbc.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
“Providing unaccompanied children a safe, healthy place is both our legal and moral obligation. That’s why today I visited the Long Beach Convention Center, an Emergency Intake Site that HHS launched three weeks ago, which has a potential capacity of 1,000 beds to help us meet the influx of arrivals. Our federal volunteers and the many staff members here today are working tirelessly to care for the children as we move to safely unite them with their parents or legal sponsors.
While we have more work to do to meet the influx of arrivals and tackle the challenges this Administration inherited, we are making important strides. Last month, we doubled our capacity at shelters by adding more than 14,000 emergency influx beds. We have reduced the amount of time that children spend in our care from an average of 40 days to 29 days. And the upwards of 1,000 federal volunteers deployed at sites across the country are making significant progress to strengthen our case management work.”
Staff member describes conditions inside facility for migrant teens in Dallas
HHS told WFAA that as of May 11 around 793 teens remain at the facility. In April, 588 new teens were brought to the convention center.
Credit: AP
Charter buses arrive at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas on Wednesday, March 17, 2021, escorted by Federal Protective Service Police. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Tuesday, March 16 that the convention center will serve as an emergency intake site to hold teens who have arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border starting Wednesday to decrease overcrowding at Customs and Border Protection facilities. (Lola Gomez/The Dallas Morning News via AP)