New shelter for detained immigrant families will open in Donna
DONNA — Responding to a surge of Central American migrants in recent months, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said Wednesday it will open a temporary holding facility this week equipped to house up to 1,000 people by the Donna-Rio Bravo International Bridge.
The announcement comes at a time of year when the flow of immigration northward usually tapers off, yet unaccompanied children and families have continued to pour across the Southwest border and crowd international bridges since October, rivaling the unprecedented spring and summer months of 2014.
“We are much better prepared to process people, to question them and take their biometric information,” said CBP Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske. “Because we’re more knowledgeable, we have better resources, we’re better equipped, we’re able to deal with this influx, with this surge, in a much more humanitarian way.”
Last month, the Border Patrol opened another processing center for children and families in Tornillo, near El Paso. The agency also sent 150 agents from other sectors to the Rio Grande Valley to support local agents dealing with the swell of immigrants in the field.
Read more: http://www.lmtonline.com/news/local/article/New-shelter-for-detained-immigrant-families-will-10781426.php
(Laredo Morning Times)