U.S. to triple number of beds at tent camp for immigrant children

September 13, 2018 - 9:35 AM

Central American families are camped out on a border bridge between Ciudad Miguel Aleman and Roma, Texas. The migrants seeking asylum say they presented their documents to U.S. Customs officials on the bridge. But the officials said the families have to wait on the Mexican side of the bridge because there isn't enough space for them to be processed.

The government said Tuesday that it plans to triple the amount of space for migrant children traveling without a parent at the Tornillo immigrant detention camp so that up to 3,800 of the children can be held there.

Thats a 20 percent increase in the number of beds for unaccompanied minors, now at 12,800, in the controversial network of more than 100 shelters overseen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

It comes as the length of stay for unaccompanied minors has lengthened to an average of 59 days nearly double what it was four years ago.

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