Hundreds of migrant kids separated from parents are stuck at border stations
Source: NBC News
HHS officials will tour three bases in Texas to see if they are suitable to house unaccompanied migrant children, who now number more than 11,000.
by Julia Ainsley and Courtney Kube / Jun.05.2018 / 4:32 AM ET
WASHINGTON — Border agents and child welfare workers are running out of space to shelter children who have been separated from their parents at the U.S. border as part of the Trump administration's new "zero tolerance" policy, according to two U.S. officials and a document obtained by NBC News.
As of Sunday, nearly 300 of the 550 children currently in custody at U.S. border stations had spent more than 72 hours there, the time limit for immigrants of any age to be held in the government's temporary facilities. Almost half of those 300 children are younger than 12, according to the document, meaning they are classified by the Department of Homeland Security as "tender age children."
The stations, run by the Border Patrol and meant only as the first stop for children detained at the border, often lack adequate bedding or separate sleeping rooms for children.
"It would be highly inappropriate and even unsafe to hold children for extended periods in these short-term border facilities because they often lack the adequate medical and nutritional resources for these young people," said Greg Chen, director of government relations for the American Immigration Lawyers Association. "It would place these children at risk of harm if they are housed with adults without the proper privacy that children should have."
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hundreds-migrant-kids-separated-parents-are-stuck-border-stations-n878696
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