Homestead child migrant detention facility shuts down

Author: Associated Press
Published:
Migrant children walk outside at the Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Children a former Job Corps site that now houses them, on Friday, June 22, 2018, in Homestead, Fla. U.S. officials provided a glimpse into the South Florida facility housing more than 1,000 teen-age migrants, seeking to dispel any suggestions that children are being mistreated. The tour included dorm-style buildings where children sleep up to 12 per room in steel-framed bunk beds, and warehouse-sized, air-conditioned white tents where minors attend classes and watch movies. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Migrant children walk outside at the Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Children a former Job Corps site that now houses them, on Friday, June 22, 2018, in Homestead, Fla. U.S. officials provided a glimpse into the South Florida facility housing more than 1,000 teen-age migrants, seeking to dispel any suggestions that children are being mistreated. The tour included dorm-style buildings where children sleep up to 12 per room in steel-framed bunk beds, and warehouse-sized, air-conditioned white tents where minors attend classes and watch movies. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

The Trump administration is shutting down one of the largest U.S. facilities for child migrants that had come under intense criticism from advocates and lawmakers.

The Homestead, Florida, facility emptied out in August but had remained operational in case there was no room at shelters for teen migrants that had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Monday that it has now reduced bed capacity from 1,200 to zero. About 2,000 workers were being let go.

Democratic candidates visited the Miami-area facility during campaign stops, attacking the administration for holding children in a cramped detention center run by a company tied to former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly.

Comprehensive Health Services Inc. was awarded a no-bid contract for $341 million earlier this year.

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