USA: desperate migrant children to get out of shelters

A 13 -year -old Honduran girl who spent two months in the emergency hostel for the largest migrant children in the US government said she was put under surveillance for suicide prevention and that she only ate pallets and took juice because the food smelled very very bad.In another place, a 17 -year -old Salvadoran said he had to wear the same clothes, including interior garments, for two weeks, and that he spent most of the days in bed.

In a third installation in Texas, a 16 -year -old Hondurans said he had not met with a case coordinator in more than three weeks to see if he could go to live with his sister in New Orleans.

"I'm desperate.I would not mind being here 20 or 30 days if I knew that I will be released soon soon.But since the process has not begun and since I have no idea what is happening or when the process will begin, that makes me feel very, very anxious.I don't know when this will end, ”he said.

More than a dozen immigrant minors described similar conditions and the despair they felt for leaving the large -scale emergency accommodation centers mounted by the Joe Biden government in sites as convention centers and military bases to face a record increase in thenumber of minors crossing the border between Mexico and the United States.

The minors were interviewed by the defenders of the immigrants between March and June, and their testimonies were presented on Monday afternoon in a federal court in Los Angeles that supervises the agreement that regulates the conditions of custody for children who cross the border alone.

For weeks, defenders have said that the Biden government is taking too long to deliver family members in the United States and that the conditions in some emergency facilities without a license are inadequate and alarming.Barack Obama and Donald Trump governments also faced challenges related to the care of unaccompanied migrant minors.

The Biden government indicated that significant improvements have been made, such as redoubled efforts to quickly gather minors with their families, or move them to long -sided with license facilities.That has resulted in a decrease in the number of minors in emergency shelters, of a maximum of approximately 14.500 in April to less than 8.000 Currently, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, the agency in charge of its care.

In the Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, Texas, the largest emergency shelter in the government, the number of minors has been reduced by about 4.800 to 1.600.There are now activities available as exercise classes and weekly meetings with case coordinators, in addition to a library on the site that minors can visit at any time, the department reported.

In their testimonies, the minors - that were not identified by name in the documents - describe waiting for weeks or more than a month in facilities with little what to do, minimum education and without knowing when they can leave.

In Fort Bliss, the Honduran girl in surveillance for suicide prevention said that he could practically not sleep at night because the lights were always lit and fell asleep during the day.He said that the food was horrible, as a pasty salad and bread with disgusting smell, so he chose to just eat pallets and take juice.

He added that while he was in surveillance for suicide prevention, he took away his pens and pencils, and that the guards watched each of their movements, measures whose intention was to avoid injuring itself.

They told him that if he tried to escape, he could spend more time, he added.When he presented his testimony, he commented that he had been installation for almost 60 days and that he did not know when he could move to New Mexico with his uncle, who told him that he had completed the procedures for his release.

"I've been here for a long time.I really want to go, ”he said.

The record of unaccompanied migrant minors who have reached the country has tested the Biden government, which arrested almost 60.000 of them between February and May, many from Central America.

The Government opened more than a dozen emergency accommodation sites this spring to give quick response to the saturation of the Customs Office and Border Protection, one of which had 4.000 people in a space for 250 and kept many for weeks, much longer of the three -day limit.

In emergency accommodation sites, minors are expected to remain for one or two weeks until they can meet relatives in the United States or can be sent to more stable locations, such as reception facilities or shelters for long stays with a state.

More than 2.100 minors were housed in emergency facilities for more than 40 days, and more than 2.600 for between 21 and 40 days until the end of May, according to the official June report presented at the Court.Approximately one third of transitional temporary protection beds are still empty, as well as almost 600 beds in licensed shelters, indicates the report.

In the documents presented to the Court this week, the defenders questioned why the government keeps so many minors in those shelters without a license instead of placing them in license facilities, or with temporary tutors.

After so many months, "it is still a complete mystery to us," said Leecia Welch, director of Legal Defense and Child Welfare at the National Center for Youth Law and one of the lawyers of minors in the federal case."And it's not for not asking the question.We just don't receive an answer ".

This week a hearing is scheduled with the federal judge who presides over the case.

All emergency hostel.Minors can also provide confidential feedback in mailboxes for comments.

The Government affirms that it closed the sites that did not meet these standards and that it is closing more as the need decreases.

However, defenders fear that more minors could end at emergency accommodation sites without a license because the Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, has ordered the closure of shelters with federal funds that house migrant minors in the state.The Biden government has threatened to take legal actions if the Republican governor executes the order.More than half of migrant minors housed by the United States government in license facilities are in Texas.

In an installation in Houston who already closed, the 17 -year -old Salvadoran said he could not shower for eight days and told him to turn around his underwear because he had not laundry.He added that minors had limited the use of the sanitary and that he cried during the nights.

"We spent almost all day in our beds in Houston because there was nothing more to do," he said."I felt very desperate".

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Taxin reported from Orange County, California, Gómez Licón from Miami and Watson from San Diego.