(Dario Lopez-Mills - Pool/Getty Images)
By Curtis Brodner
(TUCSON, Ariz.) Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will open a tent facility to hold detained migrants at the Tucson International Airport, the Arizona Daily Star reported.
Interim Chief Patrol Agent John Modlin emailed City Council members on Friday to inform them that the facility is scheduled to be completed in late April or early May.
A recent influx in migrant border crossings strained the United States’ detention centers, and the Biden administration is scrambling to open more facilities, according to News Break.
The administration has faced particular pressure due to children being forced into overcrowded detention centers with poor living conditions that usually hold only adults.
Many children are being held there for longer than the legal limit. After 72 hours, minors are supposed to be transferred from CBP custody to Department of Health and Human Services shelters or to the homes of family members living in the United States, according to News Break.
Councilmember Steve Kozachik said the facility will likely house children.
The facility is designed to hold 500 people, according to Modlin, but COVID-19 restrictions will likely lower the capacity to between 150 and 200 people for the time being.
CBP also intends to build a tent facility in Yuma, though the agency has not yet announced details.
Mayor Regina Romero announced Monday that the City of Tucson has contracted with local hotels to house migrants while the tent facilities are being built, according to the Associated Press.