Lakewood, Colorado to temporarily house up to 1,000 immigrant children

In April 2016, the Federal Center in Lakewood will become the temporary home for up to 1,000 immigrant children. These children are fleeing to the U.S. from impoverished and gang infested Central American countries. The facility, a vacant office warehouse, will be the largest of its kind in the country and will be run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. After a substantial decrease in the number of minors arriving from central American countries, the numbers are ticking up once again.

These children from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras are unaccompanied minors no older than 17 (many are not even teenagers), having made the long, treacherous trip to the U.S. without any parent or another adult. They have crossed into the U.S. to escape gang violence, poverty or child traffickers. According to local agencies, they will “not integrate into the local community and will remain under staff supervision at all times”. The affected children will not attend local schools. The average stay for a child at these type of shelter is estimated to be 32 days. While in the custody of Health and Human Services and, the children will be medically screened and vaccinated and receive classroom education services. Some children may be allowed to live with relatives in the U.S. while they await their immigration court dates while other children will be placed with local sponsors. “These kids are coming from a place of desperation, giving them accommodation and a measure of comfort is the right thing to do,” said U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, the Democrat representative from Arvada. Perlmutter also said it’s sad that so many children feel they have no choice but to cross the U.S. border illegally. Click here for the full article at the Denver Post.