Biden to use San Diego Convention Center as emergency site for child migrants

The Biden administration will use the San Diego Convention Center as an emergency intake site to temporarily house unaccompanied migrant children.

A spokesperson for Health and Human Services’s Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) said in an emailed statement Wednesday that the site will have the capacity to initially accommodate up to 1,400 children.

The site will provide required standard of care for children, including clean and comfortable sleeping quarters, meals, toiletries, laundry and access to medical services. COVID-19 health screening protocol will also be implemented for preventing and controlling the spread of the disease.

The Biden administration has been scrambling to contain an influx of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. The administration has been under intense criticism over the way it has handled the influx, as well as transparency regarding conditions in government-run shelters.

Prior to the San Diego Convention Center, the administration has opened five shelters over the past month to increase bed capacity, including two influx care facilities and three emergency intake facilities.

Most recently, ORR announced on Tuesday that it is opening a second influx care facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas, that will be able to hold 500 children.

President Biden said on Wednesday that Vice President Harris will lead the administration’s efforts to deal with the influx of migrants. Her work is expected to address the migrants crossing the border and to establish long-term partnerships with the countries the migrants are fleeing.