Migrant minors languish at emergency sites in US: Advocates

The sites were set up amid a surge in border crossings, but aren’t suitable for long-term housing, advocates say.

Five months after the administration of United States President Joe Biden declared an emergency and raced to set up shelters to house a record number of children crossing the US-Mexico border alone, kids continue to languish at the sites, while more keep coming, child welfare advocates say. More than 700 children spent three weeks or longer at the government’s unlicensed sites in mid-July, according to declarations filed with a federal court overseeing custody conditions for immigrant youth. Advocates say children should be released quickly to their relatives in the US or sent to a licensed facility.