POMONA, Calif. (KNX) — The Pomona Fairplex closed its intake doors Friday after seven months of operating as a temporary shelter for migrant children, Los Angeles Supervisor Hilda Solis said Tuesday. The move means 8,450 migrant children will now be reunited with parents and sponsors across the United States.
The Fairplex first opened as an Emergency Intake Site (EIS) in April, with 250 unaccompanied migrant children who were sheltered there temporarily. Since then, 548,000 meals have been provided, 65,000 calls to family members have been made and more than 25,600 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered, Solis' team said in a statement Tuesday.
"The Pomona Fairplex has been a place of healing for our east San Gabriel Valley community throughout the COVID-19 pandemic — first as a quarantine and isolation site, then as a COVID-19 testing location, and most recently, a vaccination point of distribution," Solis said.
"When President Biden’s team reached out to my office to assist with the influx of unaccompanied children, I knew without question that our Pomona community would step up for this mission."
Solis said she witnessed the dedication of staff to the children through numerous visits to the site, calling them "extraordinary" and thanking the president and vice president for recognizing the importance of migrant issue.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said it is the country's legal and moral obligation to "care for the well-being of unaccompanied children" and said during it's time as an intake site the Fairplex has gone above and beyond to do so.
Karina Ramos, an Immigrant Defenders managing attorney, echoed Becerra's sentiment.
"Every single day our team was there ensuring that no child was alone in this process and that their legal and human rights were defended," she said.
"A lot of our work was lawyering, but a lot was just being there to listen, coloring with them, giving them a space to feel heard, comfortable, and comforted and knowing we were doing everything we could to help them reunite with their parents as soon as possible."
The last unaccompanied minor left the Pomona Fairplex EIS on Oct. 21 and the site was officially closed on Nov. 19, Kimberly Ortega, the acting communications director for Solis' office said.
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