GUIDELINES
Likewise, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff and U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro have described the conditions at Freeman as spartan but humane. As Wolff said before the emergence of these allegations, “We need to remember that we are all immigrants — we came from somewhere else. Some people forget that.”
After Abbott’s news conference, Castro tweeted that Abbott “has a responsibility to put forward the evidence.”
Until this bombshell news conference, we had viewed the shelter as a local model for how to respond to the border surge with humanity and compassion, honoring asylum laws, and embracing refugees and immigrants.
Abbott has said he would like to see these migrant children moved to other federal facilities. This is a particularly complicated endeavor as it’s unclear just where they might be placed. The surge of immigrants at the border and the overcrowding at processing centers is still on the rise. As of Monday, 15,193 were in the care of the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement and another 4,231 in U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody. ABC World News Tonight reported Tuesday the Donna facility was so crowded children were forced to take turns sleeping on the floor — what should be a clarion call to build capacity. There were about 1,370 teenage boys in the Freeman Coliseum facility as of Monday. The coliseum has a capacity of 2,100 beds, plus 300 medical beds. Bexar County’s contract is supposed to last at least until May 30.
Where do we go from here? First and foremost, we need a clear assessment of the safety and wellbeing of these children.
And that assessment must be free of the partisan rancor surrounding immigration and border security. Whether these children remain in Freeman Coliseum or are moved to another location, they deserve our protection while seeking asylum and to be connected with families and loved ones.
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