The state of Arizona is rushing supplies to a makeshift holding center where more than 700 migrant children have been "dumped" by federal agents.
Officials in Arizona are shipping mattresses, portable toilets, showers and food to a border patrol facility in Nogales where the situation is considered dire. Despite federal agents barring media access to the facility, images have surfaced of children sleeping on a warehouse floor in plastic bins with thermal blankets. (Via Fox News, MSNBC)
The situation arose Friday when the Department of Homeland Security began sending hundreds of unaccompanied children to Arizona after they were caught illegally crossing the border into Texas. (Via KNXV)
The move has angered Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, who was already upset with the federal government over the recent release of hundreds of undocumented families at bus stations in Phoenix and Tucson. (Via KPHO)
Brewer penned a statement over the weekend, writing: "I am disturbed and outraged that President Obama's administration continues to implement this dangerous and inhumane policy. ... The fact that the border remains unsecure ... while this operation continues full-steam ahead is deplorable." (Via Fox News)
The Border Patrol in Texas's Rio Grande Valley has been overwhelmed in recent weeks by surges of people fleeing the violence in Central America, including a reported 50,000 children traveling on their own.
According to USA Today: "In the past, undocumented immigrants from Central America have been held in detention facilities and then flown back to their home countries. But the arrival of thousands of families and children traveling on their own created new challenges for the DHS because [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] has only one detention center for holding families."
To deal the influx, the federal government has resorted to shipping some of the immigrants to facilities in Arizona. Governor Brewer says her office was never formally informed by the Obama administration about the practice. (Via USA Today)
Homeland Security says the number of children sent to Arizona is expected to double to around 1,400. The facility in Nogales has a capacity of about 1,500.
