Outfitted with miniature furniture, toys, and rugs with roads painted on them, a federal detention center in Karnes City, Tx., was designed for children, but the only people being held there are adults, reports the Wall Street Journal. Reports of children detained in crowded Border Patrol stations criticized as dirty and unsafe prompted a national outcry, while facilities intended for children aren’t being fully used for them. “It boggles the mind that at this very moment there are no kids here, when just on the other side of the state they have kids at Border Patrol processing centers sitting there for lengthy period of times without access to any of the things we should be providing them,” said Cori Hash, an Austin immigration lawyer who visited the Karnes center.
In a detention center in Dilley, Tx., for families with children, more than 1,200 of 2,400 beds were empty as of late June. A family facility with 100 beds in Pennsylvania housed just 29 people. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the crush of immigrants has left them unable to transport children to facilities hundred of miles from the busiest border crossings. Because families with children can’t be held more than 20 days, officials say it makes more sense to transport single adults who can be detained longer. Immigrant children who cross the border illegally by themselves or with relatives aren’t supposed to be held more than 72 hours in cells intended to detain single men for a day or two and lack amenities like showers. Some have been held for weeks. Dr. Sally Goza of the American Academy of Pediatrics visited a Border Patrol processing center in McAllen, Tx., where she saw children draped in Mylar blankets in cells that reeked of feces, urine and sweat. “We have to do better than this,” she said.