Biden administration under fire for reopening facility for unaccompanied migrant children 

An occupant at Casa Padre, an immigrant shelter for unaccompanied minors, in Brownsville, Texas. Another shelter — Carrizo Springs — is being reopened

Credit: REUTERS

Joe Biden, the US president, is under fire for reopening a controversial facility designed to house hundreds of unaccompanied migrant children in Texas.

Both Republicans and Democrats have criticised the decision, with Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeting: “This is not okay, never has been okay, never will be okay — no matter the administration or party.”

There has been a recent surge in the number of people attempting to illegally cross into the US from Mexico, with more than 5,700 children arriving alone in January.

With social distancing requirements, the government says there was not enough room to house everyone, so have reopened Carrizo Springs, which can hold 700 people.

US Health and Human Services said that the first group of children aged between 13 and 17 arrived on Monday. 

It comes after Mr Biden reversed Trump-era immigration policies, signing executive orders to reunite families separated at the US-Mexico border and ending construction of the border wall.  

One of former president Donald Trump’s most controversial policies was the ‘zero tolerance’ programme, where parents entering the US from Mexico illegally were prosecuted and forcibly separated from their children.

Nearly 3,000 children, some just toddlers, were held in detention centres and it sometimes took months to relocate their families.

It prompted a domestic and international outcry and Mr Biden called it a "moral and national shame."

The centre at Carrizo Springs is different, in that it houses children that had crossed over the border by themselves. 

The site was converted into a holding facility under former Mr Trump, but has been closed since July 2019. 

Lawyers, activists and politicians have expressed their concerns about the living conditions at the site, which costs the Government an estimated $775 per child per day to run.

“It’s unnecessary, it’s costly, and it goes absolutely against everything [President] Biden promised he was going to do,” Linda Brandmiller, a San Antonio-based immigration lawyer told the Washington Post. 

“It’s a step backward, is what it is. It’s a huge step backward.”

Pictures of the 66-acre site, show rows of beige trailers and a giant white dining tent, and a number of blue hospital tents for anyone who needs medical attention.

There are also classrooms, a barber shop and football pitch, while a legal services trailer has a sign saying “bienvenidos” (welcome in Spanish.)

But prominent Democrats say the whole immigration system needs to be reshaped.

“Our immigration system is built on a carceral framework,” said Ms Ocasio-Cortez.

“It’s no accident that challenging how we approach both these issues are considered “controversial” stances.

“They require reimagining our relationship to each other and challenging common assumptions we take for granted.”

On Wednesday, the Department for Homeland Security announced that it would start processing the asylum claims of people stuck in Matamoros camp in Northern Mexico.

In the coming weeks and months, an estimated 25,000 asylum seekers with active cases will be allowed into the United States, as President Biden seeks to undo some of Donald Trump’s strict immigration controls.