Rep. Raúl Grijalva on Friday toured a facility in Tucson that houses dozens of the thousands of migrant children who have been separated from their relatives under the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” border enforcement policy.

The facility, one of eight shelters operated by Southwest Key that house migrant children in Arizona, has long cared for minors who were alone when they were detained by immigration officials. Outcry over the separation of families under President Donald Trump’s policy has drawn new criticism and protesters to the facilities.

“It’s clean, but it’s still a place kids can’t leave,” Grijalva told reporters following his tour. The facility currently houses 279 minors, including 79 separated under the “zero tolerance” policy, he said.

Despite touring and talking with Southwest Key employees for more than an hour, Grijalva said he did not get answers on how the reunification process works. The government must reunite all children younger than 5 by Tuesday, and all other minors by July 26.

Grijalva said he was told that in the last week, the facility had reunified just two children with relatives.

“I hoped to learn more about the unification process, the use of the DNA during this whole thing, and the implications of the Flores” settlement, which limits how long the government can hold migrant youth, he said. “Those questions were not answered.”

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Source: Arizona Republic – July 6, 2018
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