US Extending Services, Capacity Of Immigration Detention Center For Minors - Health Agency

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th September, 2018) The Trump administration will extend operations of an immigration detention center for unaccompanied minors in Tornillo, Texas and will drastically increase its capacity to 3,800 beds, US Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Kenneth Wolfe said in a press release.

"The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), with the support of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is continuing operations through December 31, 2018 at Tornillo Land Port of Entry as a temporary shelter location for unaccompanied alien children cared for by HHS," Wolfe said in the release.

The HHS plans to expand capacity at the Tornillo Land Port of Entry site to 3,800 temporary beds - up from the 400-bed capacity earlier this summer, according to media reports.

Wolfe explained that the continuation of operations at the Tornillo immigration detention center are based on the number of unaccompanied immigrant children under the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement for the agency's Administration for Children and Families.

The separations of minors from parents apprehended when crossing the US border illegally resulted from the Trump administration's zero-tolerance policy, which ended June 20, did not drive the need to extend services at the detention center, Wolfe said.

As a result of the policy, about 2,600 immigrant children were separated from their parents this spring.