Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New Holding Center Opens To Relieve Overcrowded Detention Facilities, But Critics Worry Damage To Kids Already Done
The Associated Press: New Holding Center For Migrant Children Opens In Texas
A former oilfield worker camp off a dirt road in rural Texas has become the U.S. government's newest holding center for detaining migrant children after they leave Border Patrol stations, where complaints of overcrowding and filthy conditions have sparked a worldwide outcry. (Merchant, 7/10)
The Hill: Newly Opened Facility For Migrant Children Expected To Cost Up To $300 Million
The shelter, which was formerly used as a lodging facility for oil field workers, is one of two temporary “influx” shelters, the other being the Homestead facility in Florida. That facility is the administration's largest for unaccompanied children and currently houses around 2,300 children, but the number changes daily. (Weixel, 7/10)
The Wall Street Journal: New Shelter For Migrant Teenagers Lacks Residents
For the first 60 days the facility is open, BCFS will be paid up to $50 million, according to federal contracting records. The records show the contract could be worth as much as $300 million through January. The dorms, which previously housed oil workers, have three-bedroom suites, each with two sets of bunk beds and a private bathroom. The young residents have decorated the rooms with drawings, including some of family, and flags from their home countries, which include Guatemala and El Salvador. (Caldwell, 7/10)
The Washington Post: ‘I Hate This Mission,’ Says Operator Of New Emergency Shelter For Migrant Children
As he stood before reporters in a newly opened emergency shelter for unaccompanied migrant children, the chief executive of the contracting firm that could be paid up to $300 million to run the facility was far from thrilled about the task before him. “I hate this mission,” Kevin Dinnin, head of the San Antonio-based nonprofit BCFS Health and Human Services, said on Wednesday in this remote Texas town. “The only reason we do it is to keep the kids out of the Border Patrol jail cells.” (Satija, 7/10)
Reuters: U.S. Holding 200 Children At Border, Down From 2,500 In May
Almost all detained unaccompanied children picked up by border officers are being turned over to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials within 72 hours of apprehension, the official told reporters on a conference call, speaking on the condition he not be named. Criticism mounted after government inspectors and immigration lawyers found evidence children were being held long past legal limits at border facilities not equipped to house them. (Trotta and Chavez, 7/10)
Dallas Morning News: Is The Carrizo Springs Migrant Facility 'Too Much, Too Late' For The Southern Border Crisis?
Federal officials in charge of caring for and reuniting unaccompanied migrant children with their parents on Wednesday happily gave reporters a tour of the spotless migrant holding facility recently opened in this southwest Texas town. They highlighted the high standards of medical and child care while showing off the facility, and noted the recently reduced length of stay for migrant children in federal custody. (Barragán, 7/10)
In other news on the immigration crisis —
ProPublica: Border Patrol Condemns Secret Facebook Group, But Reveals Few Specifics
Long known for its insular culture and tendency toward secrecy, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency is saying little in the aftermath of news reports exposing a vulgar and hateful Facebook group for current and retired Border Patrol agents, including supervisors. While CBP officials have publicly condemned the offensive social media posts, they’ve disclosed few details about the steps the agency has taken to identify employees who behaved inappropriately online and hold them accountable. (Thompson, 7/10)
ProPublica: Immigrant Children Sent To Chicago Shelters Are Traumatized And Sick, In Some Instances With Chicken Pox Or Tuberculosis
The Trump administration is sending immigrant children who are alone, afraid and sick with fever, chicken pox and even tuberculosis to shelters in Chicago, where they are further isolated to prevent the spread of disease, according to one of the nonprofit organizations caring for them. In yet another byproduct of the administration’s immigration policy, many of those children also are arriving increasingly traumatized after spending a week or longer in dirty and overcrowded U.S. Border Patrol facilities. (Sanchez, Cohen and Eldeib, 7/11)
Politico: House Appropriators Plan Visit To Florida Shelter For Migrant Kids
House appropriators on Monday will visit a federal shelter for unaccompanied immigrant children, ahead of a hearing on oversight of the Department of Health and Human Services program that handles care for those kids. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), chairwoman of the spending panel that funds HHS, will lead a group of subcommittee members on the trip to a temporary shelter in Homestead, Fla., where up to about 2,500 kids are kept in federal care at any one time. (Scholtes, 7/10)
