Plans to house youth in Glorieta halted

Camp operators say facility will not immediately serve as emergency intake site for unaccompanied migrant kids

Following deliberations this week with the federal Health and Human Services Department, Glorieta Camps is no longer preparing to be an immediate emergency intake site for unaccompanied immigrant youth, the organization announced Thursday.

The operators of the Christian faith-based retreat southeast of Santa Fe said in a news release they were pleased to receive “overwhelming positive response” and “amazing outpouring” from the community following news earlier this week that they had been seeking staff, volunteers and supplies to house and care for more than 2,000 kids as part of a federal response to an influx of minors arriving at the border.

“We are very encouraged by all of our partners that we could be an excellent location to support these children if needed in the near future,” the release said. “At this point all donations and supplies will be held until we receive confirmation if or when we may become a host site in the future.

“It has been great to work with the Office of the Governor, the Health and Human Services Department, [the Federal Emergency Management Agency], Homeland Security, senators, representatives, and the other agencies that are ready to serve these kids in need, and we’re grateful to the state government agencies in New Mexico that would have assisted in an oversight role,” the statement continued.

If Glorieta Camps is not chosen to serve as an emergency intake site within the next few months, the statement said, all donated supplies will be contributed to another site.

Though the border has been closed to asylum-seekers, unaccompanied children are required by federal law to be taken into custody and placed in care while their case is resolved.

Santa Fe immigration attorney Allegra Love said most unaccompanied minors have a destination in mind.

“One of the things people need to understand about unaccompanied children is that all of them will receive a date in immigration court later to determine their status,” she added. “This is not an immediate ‘welcome’ process.”

New Mexico could see more possible emergency intake sites as the federal government continues to take in youth at the border, Love said.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said the state would assist in oversight of such an effort.

Currently, she said, state officials “don’t know whether or where other sites might be.”