Due to the high volume of unaccompanied minors coming from Central America, the Texas state government announced yesterday that it would relax the rules governing the required conditions in its shelters. The regulatory changes reduced the number of square feet required for each child, increased the number of children assigned to a single toilet, sink and shower, and allows the minors to sleep on cots when standard beds are unavailable.
The announcement comes one day after the U.S. Department of Health and Human services said that it would be closing three emergency shelters currently situated on military bases in California, Texas and Oklahoma. The shelter at Fort Sill in Oklahoma could close as early as Friday. More than 7,700 children have been housed at the three shelters since May, many of whom have since been reunited with family.
And in a last-minute vote on Friday—hours before the start of August recess—the Republican majority in the House of Representatives approved legislation that would modify a 2008 anti-human-trafficking law in order to make it easier to deport unaccompanied minors and block President Obama’s 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The chamber also approved $694 million in emergency funding for federal agencies dealing with the crisis, far less than the $3.7 billion requested by President Obama. It is unlikely that these bills will pass the Democrat-controlled Senate.
