Approximately 150 unaccompanied migrant children who crossed the southern U.S. border are expected to arrive in Erie on Tuesday, according to federal officials at the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. The children, including boys and girls ages 5 to 12 and girls ages 13 to 17, will be temporarily housed at the Pennsylvania International Academy while officials work to unite them with family members or other sponsors in the U.S.
“Additional capacity is urgently needed to manage the increasing numbers of [unaccompanied children] referrals from [U.S. Customs and Border Protection],” the agency said in a statement about the Erie site. “HHS is aggressively working with its interagency partners to ensure that [unaccompanied children] are safe and unified with family members or other suitable sponsors as quickly and safely as possible.”
HHS said the site is intended to be a temporary measure.
The new, 418-bed facility is part of the agency’s efforts to address the recent influx of unaccompanied children crossing the border. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection,more than 18,000 unaccompanied children arrived at the Southwest border in March.
“What we’re seeing at the border is a humanitarian situation of pretty large magnitude that folks have stepped up and decided to address,” said Dylanna Grasinger, the executive director of theU.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants Erie Field Office. The organization is not working at the new center.
According to Grasinger, the process of connecting children with their family or sponsor typically takes about a month.
The announcement drew criticism from Pennsylvania Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, who represents Erie.
“The fact that President Biden is now sending migrant children almost 2,000 miles away from the border to Erie, Pennsylvania for shelter shows how serious this crisis of his own making has become,” Kelly said in a statement this week. “The Trump administration had this situation under control, but Biden rolled out the welcome mat for migrants and illegal immigrants by ending the 'remain in Mexico' policy and not finishing the border wall.”
Grasinger said the Erie community will remain a welcoming place for immigrants.
“It’s a humanitarian effort. These are children and we need to do the right thing, and we need to keep that in mind as we move forward.”
