Migrant Children Could Be Detained In Houston Warehouse

HOUSTON, TX — Another facility for holding undocumented children separated from their parents is standing up in Houston, according to reports. Southwest Key Programs, the contractor already running a confinement facility in South Texas, is leasing a warehouse in downtown Houston.

419 Hope Partners LLC, the building's owner, confirmed to the Washington Post that Southwest Key Programs signed a lease for the warehouse at 419 Emancipation Ave.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner told KTRK "I don’t want in the city of Houston for us to participate in a policy that I think is morally bankrupt. This is not about party, not about Democrat or Republican, nothing about that. It’s about valuing children."

Mayor Turner isn't the only Texas official working to oppose children being separated from their parents. Sen. Ted Cruz released a bill Monday which would make for more detention centers, but would keep families together and would require asylum seekers to be granted or denied asylum within 14 days. The bill would also nearly double the amount of immigration judges to 750.

While the process of setting up the detention facility is in the works, it's far from a done deal. The Post reports that the warehouse must be licensed by the state as a child care facility before it can become operational.

While there have been accusations of undocumented children being treated poorly, this particular facility has "individual living quarters each with a full bathroom, a commercial kitchen, an outdoor playground, a child care area, and other amenities," Hope Partners said in a statement, according to the Post.

See more:

• Ted Cruz Says New Legislation Will Keep Migrant Families Together
• Listen To Voices Of The Children Separated From Parents At Border
• Nelson To Visit Miami Holding Facility For 1,000 Kids
• RI Gov. Raimondo Won't Send Guard To Texas Border: Statehouse

Article image via Google Street View screenshot