Biden opens facility for migrant children, sparking AOC criticism

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The Biden administration has reopened a controversial migrant center to house unaccompanied minors. The administration says the reactivation is due to an increase in arrivals amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Progressives like AOC say the movement “is not right, has never been right, never will be”. Loading Something is loading.

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The Biden administration reopened a center for migrant children in Carrizo Springs, Texas on Monday to house 700 unaccompanied minors between the ages of 13 and 17, drawing criticism from activists, immigration lawyers and even some Democratic members of Congress.

Carrizo Springs, which once housed oilfield workers, was turned into a detention center by the Trump administration in 2019. Like other migrant detention centers used by the Trump administration, Carrizo Springs has been the target of protests.

Carrizo is what is known as an influx care facility, which means it is not subject to state regulation. In other words, it does not have a state license for child care.

As defined by the Department of Health and Social Services: “A foster care facility is a type of care facility that opens temporarily to provide emergency shelter and services to people. [unaccompanied alien children] during an influx or emergency. Influx care facilities are not secure facilities. “

“We must completely reform our immigration system”

President Joe Biden has vowed to reverse the harsh and inhumane immigration policies of the Trump administration during his 2020 campaign. While he has already taken a number of big steps in this regard, critics believe that the reactivation of this Trump-era emergency facility in Carrizo Springs is regressive.

“It’s unnecessary, it’s expensive, and it goes absolutely against everything Biden promised he was going to do,” Linda Brandmiller, an immigration lawyer based in San Antonio which represents unaccompanied minors. “It’s a step back, that’s what it is. It’s a huge step back.”

Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York City said in a tweet that reopening the facility “is not correct, has never been correct, will never agree – no matter the administration or the left”.

“Our immigration system is built on a prison framework. It is no coincidence that challenging the way we approach these two issues is seen as ‘controversial’ positions,” Ocasio-Cortez added.

Likewise, New York Democratic Representative Jamaal Bowman said in a tweet: “It doesn’t matter who is in the White House, the words ‘children’s migrant settlement’ should not be part of our government’s vocabulary.”

“We must completely reform our immigration system with love and humanity,” he added.

That said, other experts warn that the situation is complicated – not least because of COVID-19 – and that the administration has limited choices in terms of caring for unaccompanied minors in the circumstances.

“Influx facilities are always controversial because they are large and are not subject to state regulation,” Mark Greenberg, senior researcher at the Migration Policy Institute and former head of HHS, told Insider, adding that during the ‘Trump administration “there were serious concerns about the adequacy of services and conditions” at these facilities as well as the length of time some children were held there.

“Opening a reception center is never something people want to do, but sometimes it is the only alternative to safeguarding children in [Customs and Border Protection] totally unsuitable facilities for children, ”said Greenberg. “This is the situation the administration is currently facing”,

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), an HHS program responsible for unaccompanied minors, has 13,200 beds for children. But the HHS says the coronavirus pandemic, combined with an increase in the number of migrant children arriving at the border, means many of these beds cannot be used. Customs and border protection encountered 5,871 unaccompanied minors at the southwest border in January alone – the highest number in a single month since 2019.

Biden’s overthrow of Trump-era immigration policies, including those that led to the deportation of unaccompanied minors, has also resulted in more migrant children in government facilities, officials said. at The Post.

HHS cited this convoluted array of factors as to why the Biden administration resorts to the use of Carrizo Springs.

“As the number of newcomer children has increased, the immediate emergency is occurring because of COVID,” Greenberg said. “The ORR had arranged to have more than 13,000 beds available for the arrival of unaccompanied children, but at the moment, thousands of them cannot be used due to the need for distancing social, the ability to quarantine and isolate children, and meet other requirements for the safety of children and staff. This is why the agency is running out of authorized beds. “

“A government agency is not a parent to children” A sign outside an unaccompanied child care center explains what the facility is like on Sunday February 21, 2021 in Carrizo Springs, TX. Sergio Flores / Getty Images

HHS told The Post the goal is to keep the children in Carrizo for more than 30 days before handing them over to a licensed sponsor, although the average stay for migrant children in shelters is 42 days.

“A government agency is not a parent to children,” Denise Bell, refugee and migrant rights researcher at Amnesty International USA, said in a statement. the government identifies them and brings them together with appropriate sponsors. We don’t want to put children at risk and we don’t want them to be detained or placed in institutions that are not in their best interests.

HHS spokesman Mark Weber told The Post that the failing immigration system is largely to blame.

“Every child who enters this program is a symptom of a failing immigration system,” Weber said. “So today we have over 7,000 symptoms of a failed immigration system.”

The Biden administration is also set to reopen the Homestead detention center for unaccompanied migrant teens, a deeply controversial facility under the Trump administration, due to increased positions, according to a Miami Herald report. border workers.

The Biden administration “inherited a system that holds unaccompanied children in temporary facilities and it will take time to move away from the system,” Bell said, stressing that it was important for the administration to limit l ‘use of care facilities in influx and “quickly passes to rely only on licensed facilities.

White House says it’s “not caged children”

Responding to criticism of the reactivation of Carrizo Springs during Tuesday’s press briefing, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the facility was not akin to “caged children.” .

Democrats have frequently accused the Trump administration of putting migrant children in cages, as they denounced President Donald Trump’s family separation at the border and the conditions under which minors were kept.

Psaki said it was “never our intention to duplicate the immigration policies of the previous administration,” adding that Carrizo Springs “would follow the same standards as other HHS facilities.”

“We are not going to deport unaccompanied minors at the border. It would be inhumane,” Psaki said. “We need to find safe places for children under COVID protocols, where they can access education, health and mental health services consistent with their best interests. Our goal is for them to then be transferred. to families or sponsors. “

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