The governor of Texas denounced the abuses, but admitted that he did not enter to tour the facilities
Photo: Texas Governors Office / Courtesy
TEXAS – Without having visited the facilities of a temporary shelter for migrant minors in San Antonio the Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, assured that the children housed “have suffered sexual assaults.”
In a press conference this Wednesday Abbott indicated that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and the Department of Family Services and Texas Protection received several anonymous reports Wednesday about alleged abuses
The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office reported that several officers were deployed to the shelter after receiving information about a sexual assault, according to spokesman Johnny Garcia.
Governor Abbott denounced at a press conference that minors have been sexually assaulted, some have not received food, to those infected with COVID – 19 are not being separated from those who are healthy, and that there is not enough staff to care for them. I’m asking @ TxDPS & TX Rangers to investigate allegations of child abuse & neglect inside the Freeman Coliseum migrant child facility.
Biden’s open border policy caused this crisis. I’m calling on the administration to shut down the facility immediately. pic.twitter.com/wbjiB6lVzR
– Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) April 7, 2021
Until this Wednesday, April 7, about 1, 600 migrant minors were housed in the Freeman Coliseum , according to a report by Catholic Charities , organization that is assisting with the care of the children. The maximum capacity of the temporary shelter is 2, 300, according to the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
Abbott assured in its statements that the number of minors exceeded the amount allowed under the law.
“The Biden administration must immediately shut down this facility,” demanded Abbott.
The Department of Public Safety of Texas and the Texas Rangers reportedly opened an immediate investigation into the complaints.
“This facility is a nightmare,” said the governor Abbott, although he admitted that he did not enter to tour the facilities.
Bexar County Precinct 1 Commissioner Rebeca Clay Flores assured that migrant minors are not abused at the Freeman Coliseum.
“I have visited the facility as an elected official and then separately in my spare time, on weekends, with my church as a volunteer,” Flores said. “I can tell you about the conditions that I have spoken directly with many of the wonderful, beautiful young people at this facility . They receive three meals a day, plus two snacks ”.
Flores explained that minors, volunteers, and anyone who enters the temporary shelter is subject to a COVID test – 19, and children who test positive are immediately separated from the rest.
Multiple temporary shelters have been set up in different parts of Texas to transfer undocumented migrants and alleviate overcrowding at processing centers.
