WHY THERE?

ICE Housing Some Children in Hotels Via Unnamed Contractor While Government Shelters Sit Empty

The agency reportedly housed detained children in hotels 200 times while 10,000 government shelter beds sat empty.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is detaining children as young as 1 year old in hotels despite having thousands of empty beds in government shelters. According to documents obtained by the Associated Press, President Donald Trump’s administration has used three Hampton Inn locations in Texas and Arizona to house children almost 200 times via an unnamed private contractor before the minors are deported to their home countries. The agency reportedly has access to more than 10,000 empty beds in government shelters. Though immigration law holds that children should be held in government shelters during asylum attempts, the Trump administration has taken to immediately repatriating them, putting forward the coronavirus pandemic as the reason.