Hundreds of child migrants, mostly girls between the ages of 13-17, were suddenly relocated from a Houston-area shelter, operated by the Health and Human Services department, Saturday, and the shelter was abruptly closed, according to local news reports.
“Immigrant-led organizations are searching for answers as to why officials abruptly closed a Houston-area shelter which was housing hundreds of young migrant girls on Saturday,” Houston’s ABC affiliate reported Sunday. “A flurry of activity was seen at the shelter just before the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the teens would be transferred or reunited with family or sponsors, more than two weeks after the facility opened. Buses were seen leaving and arriving at the shelter, and boxes and computers were being moved by workers Saturday.”
“About 450 girls housed since April 1 in an Emergency Intake Site for Unaccompanied Children operated by the National Association of Christian Churches near Bush Intercontinental Airport were being moved,” ABC news national reported, noting that the girls were kept longer than the period of time allowed by immigration courts.
HHS said only that the facility was designed to be “temporary” and that the girls were scheduled to be moved.
“The NACC Houston EIS and other Emergency Intake Sites are intended for use as a temporary measure,” the agency said in a statement.
Immigration activists, however, who toured the facility just last week and then complained publicly about unsafe conditions, believe there is more to the story.
“Officials with FIEL, an immigrant advocacy group in Houston, praised the removal of the girls that FIEL director Cesar Espinosa said are 13-17 years old, but questioned the reason for the move,” ABC News noted. “Espinosa said there was an incident at the center Friday night and a FIEL employee saw law enforcement and ambulances outside the center, but could not determine what happened.”
The “incident” happened Saturday, but Houston police did not provide comment to ABC on what occurred.
Espinosa, who was among those who toured the facility last week, said that COVID-19 precautions were not being followed and that the girls being housed at the facility were packed shoulder to shoulder and forced to remain on provided cots all day, except for short bathroom and shower breaks.
“There was really no space for social distancing … they were only allowed to get up from their cot to use the restroom as well as to shower,” Espinosa told ABC. “Everything that was being brought in was temporary. The showers were temporary, they were bringing in temporary restrooms, so this space was not equipped to house anybody, much less children.”
HHS did say that around 130 of the girls would be reunited with a “sponsor” or family member instead of being transferred to a new location.
The Biden administration is facing an ongoing child migrant crisis at the southern border and is desperate to house the hundreds of unaccompanied minor illegal immigrants who cross the border each day, seeking asylum with family members and relatives in the United States. The U.S. government is reportedly housing more than 10,000 child migrants at the moment, in a series of Customs and Border Enforcement facilities across the southern United States.
Recently, the Biden administration began opening temporary detention facilities in warehouses, sports arenas, and schools, charging the Health and Human Services Agency with alleviating the crush of children in official facilities.
In Texas, particularly, the rush to house migrant children has caused problems. According to Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott, the state has received child welfare complaints from at least one facility in San Antonio — complaints that include claims of abuse and neglect.