Demings: Feds wanted to shelter migrant children at Orange center
Federal officials, facing a growing humanitarian crisis at the nation’s southern border, wanted to shelter up to 5,000 children at the Orange County Convention Center, Mayor Jerry Demings said Wednesday morning.
“They obviously have a major problem,” he said of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Department of Health and Human Services officials.
Demings said he turned down the request, because the Pentagon-sized Convention Center, idled by tradeshow and convention postponements and cancellations during much of the pandemic, has seen a recent surge in summer bookings.
Federal authorities would have needed at least 300,000 square feet indefinitely.
“We explored the option... but, unfortunately, we really don’t have the available space they were looking for,” he said.
The number of unaccompanied migrant children in border facilities reached its highest point on Sunday since the federal government began releasing data.
CNN reported the U.S. government estimates it will need more than 34,000 additional beds to keep up with the projected number of unaccompanied kids arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border from April through September.
The Biden administration wants the children in shelters managed by Health and Human Services (HHS), the agency charged with caring for migrant minors once they enter the U.S. By law, the children should be transferred out of the jaillike border-patrol facilities within 72 hours
Demings said federal authorities, including representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, visited the Convention Center for a walkthrough.
“We talked about safety and we talked about what they would need to make it a very humane [place] for the children,” the mayor said. “We did not want any part of the detention-camp-looking, very rugged, prison-type of settings that we’ve seen around the country.”
Demings said they did not discuss the center’s hosting and rental fees.
“Well there’s good news and there’s bad news here,” he said. “The good news is we have shows booked. The bad news is there are thousands — thousands — of unaccompanied children in need of shelter. That’s bad news for everyone. [The federal government] has a bit of a challenge, I think, locating large enough facilities to accommodate 5,000 kids. “
He said the agencies were estimating they need 60 square feet per child.
FEMA and HHS are leasing the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center from the city of Dallas to shelter teen-age boys and called the venue a “decompression center.”
Demings also used the term to describe the proposed use of the Orange County center, which more commonly hosts boat and car shows and industry gatherings.
“With us being a tourist destination and child friendly, and having a large convention center, it was probably a natural thing for them to look here,” the mayor said of federal authorities. “We have been good partners not only with the state but the federal government in various initiatives here recently. So, also, I think they saw us as a friendly government.”
The Convention Center has been used during the pandemic as a COVID-19 testing site and currently gives about 3,400 shots of vaccine a day.
The Biden administration this week allowed a pool of journalists inside its main detention facility for migrant children at the U.S.-Mexico border. Reports described a severely overcrowded tent structure where more than 4,000 migrants, including children and families, packed into pods and the youngest were kept in a large playpen with mats on the floor for sleeping.
Demings said he did not know where else authorities might look.
More than 70 conventions scheduled for the Orange County Convention Center canceled last year because of the pandemic. Among the big losses were the Healthcare Information & Management Systems Society’s Global Health Conference, expected to draw more than 44,000 attendees, and MegaCon Orlando, the pop culture show which lures thousands of fans, many of whom dress up as their favorite movie, TV or comic book character.
But the center has since added more than a dozen conventions previously scheduled for still-shuttered destinations. Those meet-ups carry an estimated economic impact of $124 million, according to Visit Orlando calculations. The venue’s spring and summer calendars include a line-up of basketball and volleyball tournaments, expected to draw nearly 100,000 guests.