Casa Padre
Map
Location3449,7480 Padre Island Hwy, Brownsville, Texas, U.S.
Coordinates25°56′33.6″N 97°25′26.2″W / 25.942667°N 97.423944°W / 25.942667; -97.423944
StatusOpen
OpenedMarch 2017[1]

Casa Padre is a shelter for unaccompanied or separated immigrant minors in custody of the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement, a division of Health & Human Services, located in Brownsville, Texas.[2] The site opened in March 2017, and is still housing children in 2022.[3][4] The building was formerly a Walmart store. The center is run by the nonprofit group Southwest Key Programs under contract from the federal government. Casa Padre is the largest licensed childcare facility in the United States, housing approximately 1,500 youths.[5][6] The former Walmart store houses boys ranging from ages 10 to 17.[7] According to the Internal Revenue Service, the group houses approximately 5,129 immigrant children in the United States, approximately 4 percent of the unaccompanied minors in the United States today.[8][9]

Reaction

On June 3, 2018, Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley was denied entrance to the Casa Padre facility as part of his investigation into the living conditions of the children. After he was denied entry into the facility by the police, he stated that "Americans should be outraged by the fact that our taxpayer dollars are being used to inflict spiteful and traumatizing policies onto innocent minors."[10] The recorded exchange between Merkley and the employees of the facility was uploaded to YouTube and was shared 1.1 million times.[11]

Then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi condemned both the detention facility and the Trump Administration's controversial immigration policies, stating, "This is barbaric. This is not what America is. But this is the policy of the Trump administration." Then-Speaker of the House Paul Ryan stated his disapproval of the Trump Administration's policy towards separating children from their parents. Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma tweeted, "I am asking the White House to keep families together as much as we can."[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Closed Wal-Mart in Brownsville to Reopen as Shelter for Unaccompanied Minors". KRGV.com. ABC News. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  2. ^ Tribune, The Texas; Walters, Edgar (12 July 2018). "Can separated immigrant children just walk out of shelters? Technically, yes". The Texas Tribune. Archived from the original on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  3. ^ Fernandez, Manny (14 June 2018). "Inside the Former Walmart That Is Now a Shelter for Almost 1,500 Migrant Children". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  4. ^ Zaveri, Mihir; Fernandez, Manny (24 June 2018). "Teenager Is Missing After Walking Away From Migrant Children's Center in Texas". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  5. ^ "Surge in children separated at border floods facility for undocumented immigrants. The nearly 1,500 boys living in the shelter sleep five in rooms built for four". NBC News Digital. Archived from the original on 2018-06-21. Retrieved 2022-04-30. Boys in line at Casa Padre in Brownsville, Texas, on Wednesday. It is the largest licensed child care facility in the nation for children brought to the U.S. illegally.
  6. ^ Gonzales, Richard; Burnett, John. "'These Are Not Kids Kept In Cages': Inside A Texas Shelter For Immigrant Youth". NPR.org. NPR. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  7. ^ "What I Witnessed at Casa Padre Detention Center". Alliance for Children's Rights. Retrieved 2022-10-20.
  8. ^ Miller, Michael E.; Brown, Emma; Davis, Aaron C. (June 14, 2018). "Inside Casa Padre, the converted Walmart where the U.S. is holding nearly 1,500 immigrant children". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  9. ^ "Inside the former Walmart holding 1,500 immigrant children in Texas". CBS News. Archived from the original on April 10, 2021. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  10. ^ "U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley Was Denied Access to a Detention Center for Immigrant Children, and Somebody Called the Police When He Went to the Door". Willamette Week. 4 June 2018. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  11. ^ Quito, Anne (15 June 2018). "A prison or a summer camp? Wildly different spins on the Casa Padre child immigrant center". Quartz (publication). Archived from the original on November 10, 2021. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  12. ^ Burnett, John; Gonzales, Richard. "'These Are Not Kids Kept In Cages': Inside A Texas Shelter For Immigrant Youth". NPR.org. NPR. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved June 17, 2018.


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