The United States opens a facility at a Texas military base to receive migrant children

USA announced Tuesday the opening of a new reception facility for migrant minors at a military base in Texas to cope with the influx of thousands of unaccompanied children who illegally crossed the border from Mexico.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), charged with resettling thousands of minors who have come to USA without his parents, he said he moved 500 of them to Fort Bliss, a base located in El Paso, just 5 km from the US-Mexico border.

HHS expects to shelter up to 5,000 migrant males ages 13-17 at Fort Bliss.

“The children will be greeted by the staff, given a brief medical examination, provided with clothing, toiletries, food and snacks as well as a safe place to rest.”said the HHS Administration for Children and Families, which helps manage the resettlement program.

According to government statistics, HHS had 12,035 migrant children in its care on Monday, while US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the agency that first processes migrants, had another 4,068.

The government of the president Joe Biden It has pledged to allow children under 17 who cross the border without their parents or other family members to remain in the United States, a decision that critics say encourages an exodus north.

The United States faces a sharp increase in arrivals at the border of Central American migrants who say they are fleeing poverty and violence in their countries, with a recent average of nearly 500 unaccompanied children crossing each day.

HHS has only been able to deliver 200 to 300 a day to family members in the United States.

Added to this are hundreds of migrants, predominantly from Central American countries, who cross the border in family units. Most are returned to the other side, but in some areas Mexico refuses to accept them.

Minors have overwhelmed CBP and HHS facilities, drawing criticism of Biden for the overcrowding and forcing a swift search for new places to house them, such as Fort Bliss.

On Tuesday, immigration officials opened a border detention center in Donna to journalists for the first time, Texas, in an effort to demonstrate that migrant children are being treated humanely.