Groups Sound Alarm As Texas Pushes To Close Dozens Of Shelters For Migrant Children

Dallas TX

03 June, 2021

7:29 PM

Description

CBS Dallas/Fort Worth June 3, 2021 Critics say a move by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to shutter more than 50 shelters housing about 4,000 migrant children could seriously disrupt a national program that is already strained trying to properly care for minors crossing the U.S.-Mexico border alone. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which cares for migrant children, said that it did not intend to close any facilities but that it was "assessing" the Republican governor's disaster declaration. The proclamation directs a state agency to deny or discontinue within 90 days licenses for child care facilities sheltering migrant children. Groups that represent migrant children and reunite them with their families said the order could be harmful because it may mean more minors are sent to mass-scale, unlicensed facilities that attorneys and advocates say endanger their health and safety. Abbott argues that the federal government can't force Texas to keep issuing state licenses in response to a federal problem. CBS Local Digital Media personalizes the global reach of CBS-owned and operated television and radio stations with a local perspective.