SAN ANTONIO — Editor's note: the above video was originally published on May 24, 2021.
US Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra oversees a wide range of offices- among them, the Administration for Children and Families' Office of Refugee Resettlement. Legally, Customs and Border Protection is meant to hold children for up to only three days -- then, ORR facilitates care until they are united with a responsible caregiver, often a relative, or moved into a longer-term, licensed childcare facility until their asylum hearing.
Earlier this year, San Antonio's Freeman Coliseum served as an Emergency Intake Site for thousands of children, and San Antonio-based nonprofits and volunteers have frequently raised their hands to help in any way possible. KENS 5 spoke with Secretary Becerra about the service of Texans and what's next.
The number of children trying to migrate remains high, but what has changed in terms of the care and treatment of those children?
Well, the change is pretty dramatic, and you can see it when you walk into the facilities of the Customs and Border Protection agency, what used to be jam-packed adult detention facilities that were holding thousands of children, today, don't. And that's because we were able to relieve the stress of having so many children in what were adult facilities, and take them and put them into a safe and responsible setting, whether a licensed care facility that is accustomed to caring for kids, or when there are no beds available at these licensed care facilities, we have stood up these Emergency Intake Sites, that are temporary sites, to provide kids with an appropriate setting- not adult detention facilities, and certainly not a desert. So we're doing everything we can to make sure we responsibly provide for the care and well-being of these unaccompanied migrant children.
There have been a lot of compassionate Texans that have aimed to volunteer, help wherever they can- what kind of actions have you seen by everyday citizens that have made an impact?
We owe a big thanks to all the Texans who've stood up and helped us manage a very large and growing challenge because any time you're talking about a child--especially a child who's probably suffered some real trauma--it's difficult to make sure you're doing right by that child. And we thank all those men and women in Texas who've helped us make sure those children have a safe place- that we feed them well, provide them with a place to sleep, we let them engage in the activities you would want to see a child engage in, we provide them with medical services, behavioral health services and while we only have them temporarily, we're doing what we can to make sure they recognize that at least temporarily, in our custody and with the help of men and women from Texas, we're going to do right by these kids.
Here in Texas, Governor Abbott has announced plans to build a border wall along the border of Texas, funded in part by donations in an online fundraiser. Do you think that will deter the migration of unaccompanied children- what kind of impact do you think it would have?
You know Erica, I'm not going to deal with the politics of Texas, we're trying to work with the state of Texas and certainly the Governor, and those fine men and women of Texas who've been there to help us with the provision of services for the unaccompanied children coming across the border. We're going to do what we have to do. My responsibility is specific to the care of these children so that we can remove them out of the hands of the Customs and Border Protection agency is only, by law, supposed to hold them some three days. So that's what I concentrate on. We've been fortunate with the help of a lot of great partners to do that well and do it responsibly, do it legally- all the politics, I'll let those folks deal with the politics.
There was an Emergency Intake Site here in San Antonio and a lot of people signed up to volunteer and a number of organizations helped. The Governor presented some allegations about care in that site, some volunteers disputed those allegations. The center did close a month ago, were there any takeaways from that site, which was initially meant to be temporary, about how that went?
I tip my hat to the people of San Antonio who helped make that site- a temporary site- one that worked for these kids. Any time you convert a convention center or large facility that wasn't necessarily meant to take care of children into a place not just for children, but children who've gone through some real trauma- it's a major accomplishment. We thank everyone who made the San Antonio site possible. It was a short-term lease we had because obviously, the center has to go back to doing its regular course of business, but we thank San Antonio for opening its doors to these kids. All these kids since, they've been placed in the custody of a responsible adult in the US, usually a relative, or we have found a longer-term facility that has licensed professionals that can provide some of those services.
There are many Texans moved by the challenges these children have faced and are facing now that are looking for ways to help and be of service, what guidance do you have for them?
I've visited many of our sites and one of our sites I visited had a compelling story. It's a site in Long Beach, a convention center as well- lots of kids there- and the community in Long Beach really came out to support the efforts to help these kids. When I was there over a month ago they had collected more than 70,000 new toys and books, donated by residents in Long Beach, so these kids would have something more than the bed and food and things you typically try to provide in these centers. It was so generous that we were able to obviously share some of those toys and books with kids in other sites, including in San Antonio. People have stepped forward, and I thank them for doing that. Those are the simple things people can do, to make this temporary stay that these children have with us something at least they'll remember as a generous one. It's tough. These kids have gone through a lot and they still have a journey to go because it's unclear what their final outcome will be, if they have to return to their home country or qualify under asylum to stay here, but regardless, when they're in our custody, we'll do the best job we can to be responsible caregivers for them.
What other message do you have for Texans moving forward through this process?
We get it- we know we need solutions. Unfortunately, this is what happens when you have a broken immigration system that doesn't get repaired when Congress doesn't act--but that's no excuse for us, we still have a responsibility. And when we have a broken immigration system, we have a job to do. We'll do it, and in this case, as it pertains to these migrant children who have come across the border, we'll do the best we can to make sure they're safe while they're under our care and we'll do everything we can to make sure while they go through the immigration process, that they recognize that people in America recognize children should hold a special place in our heart because they're innocent, of their circumstance, and we want to make sure they recognize that in America, we really do value our children.