The U.S Department of Health and Human Services intends to close four emergency facilities that specifically house children crossing the Mexican border into the United States alone, despite high numbers of minors still making the crossing.
According to reporting by The Associated Press, officials will close two facilities in Texas and two at convention centers in California by early August.
Recent reports have shown a drop in the number of children held in emergency facilities. According to Aurora Miranda-Maese, juvenile coordinator for the agency’s office of refugee resettlement during a court hearing about custody conditions for migrant children — young people are increasingly being released to relatives in the U.S. or being sent to state-licensed shelters.
The emergency sites were set up by the Biden administration in the spring to handle the increasing numbers of minors crossing the border.
But not much has changed since then. "It appears the numbers are still going up," said Henry A. Moak Jr., juvenile coordinator for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the court hearing.
Health and Human Services cares for the children until they can be sent to live with relatives in the United States. The agency has about 15,000 children in its care, and fewer than 3,000 in emergency facilities.
The closures arise during new criticism over the conditions in these types of facilities, with recent court filings from children describing being given spoiled food and being unable to sleep because lights were always on.
The rising number of crossing children came out in comments during a hearing in a federal court in Los Angeles that oversees a longstanding settlement governing custody conditions for immigrant children.
Officials are expected to file updates to the court in July.
Another hearing is scheduled for August.
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