The United States will keep immigrant families in hotels in the midst of the rush

Authorities said Friday that immigrant families will be detained in hotels in the Phoenix area in response to a growing number of people crossing the US-Mexico border, another step in the Biden administration’s rush to set up temporary accommodations for them.

Her office said in a statement that US Senator Kirsten Cinema had been informed that US immigration and customs authorities would occupy “several hotels along the southwestern border, including in Chandler and Phoenix.” Chandler is a suburb of Phoenix more than 150 miles (241 kilometers) north of the border.

ICE declined to identify specific hotels and locations, only saying that its $ 86.9 million contract announced last month with Endeavors Inc. It will provide about 1,200 hotel beds in Texas and Arizona. Migrant families will generally stay less than 72 hours to process.

The contract states that the San Antonio-based Veterans Care, Disaster Relief and Immigrant Services provider already has beds available in hotels in Chandler and in the cities of El Paso and Kotula, Texas, southwest of San Antonio. The first families staying in hotels under the contract were due to arrive on Friday.

The Senema office said the Democratic senator had spoken with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorcas and would make him “responsible for protecting Arizona communities and ensuring that all immigrants are treated fairly and humanely.”

The Border Patrol found 52,904 families along the Mexican border last month, up from 19,286 in February and 3,455 in March 2020. The Endeavors contract states that authorities expect the largest number of arrivals in 20 years during the period. 12 months ending September 30th.

Only one in three families found last month has been removed from the United States under the federal authorities relating to the pandemic that is depriving people of the opportunity to apply for asylum. Immigration authorities have released families with children 6 or younger in the country while their cases are decided.

Mexico has also resisted recapturing Central American families with young children, particularly in the state of Tamaulipas, which borders the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, the most travel-intensive route of illegal crossing. The United States takes some families to other border cities, San Diego and El Paso, to be expelled to Mexico from there.

To save time, the Border Patrol has released immigrant families, some 9,600, as of Tuesday, according to US Representative Henry Cuellar, without notice to appear in court. Instead, they are required to file a report with the ICE corporate office within 60 days.

The contract with Endeavors comes as management struggles to gain more space to house families and unaccompanied children. Border patrol captured nearly 19,000 children traveling alone last month, the highest monthly rate on record.

The US Department of Health and Human Services, which places unaccompanied children with “godfathers,” usually parents and relatives, has found a place in convention centers, military bases, and other important places. Los Angeles County officials said Friday that its fairgrounds will be used to temporarily house up to 2,500 unaccompanied children.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican and a frequent critic of Biden, has called on the administration to close a detention center for unaccompanied children at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, citing allegations that they are not eating enough and that the children are not being supervised. Bathing.

White House Press Secretary Jane Psaki said Friday that the administration takes “the safety and well-being of the children in our care very seriously” and that authorities will investigate Abbott’s allegations, but for now, “we have no basis for your advocacy” to close the facility.