HHS: Florida migrant child detention camp emptying out

Author: Associated Press
Published:
FILE: Security guards stand outside a former Job Corps site that now houses child immigrants, Monday, June 18, 2018, in Homestead, Fla. It is not known if the children crossed the border as unaccompanied minors or were separated from family members. An unapologetic President Donald Trump defended his administration’s border-protection policies Monday in the face of rising national outrage over the forced separation of migrant children from their parents. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee/FILE)
FILE: Security guards stand outside a former Job Corps site that now houses child immigrants, Monday, June 18, 2018, in Homestead, Fla. It is not known if the children crossed the border as unaccompanied minors or were separated from family members. An unapologetic President Donald Trump defended his administration’s border-protection policies Monday in the face of rising national outrage over the forced separation of migrant children from their parents. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee/FILE)

Federal officials say a Florida detention camp that has housed thousands of migrant children is emptying out.

Health and Human Services Department spokeswoman Evelyn Stauffer said in an email Saturday that all children are either with family members or at smaller state-licensed facilities. The camp has housed about 14,300 undocumented children since March 2018.

Last month, HHS expedited the process for sending child migrants to live with relatives already in the U.S. by eliminating a fingerprinting requirement for adult siblings and grandparents. It also stopped universally requiring child abuse and neglect checks unless there are special concerns.

The Homestead facility, which will remain capable of housing migrant children, has been a frequent subject of protests and visits by members of Congress opposed to President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

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