Long Beach working with Biden administration to house migrants at convention center

The Long Beach (Calif.) Convention Center is likely to house migrants temporarily in the coming weeks as the Biden administration looks for places to put a growing wave of unaccompanied minors at the border. 

City officials in Long Beach are slated to meet Tuesday and vote on whether to allow the convention center in the city to be used as an emergency shelter site, according to the Press-Telegram. 

A representative for the Health and Human Services Department said that Long Beach was under consideration to host the facility but did not confirm that the federal government had decided to proceed with a potential contract. 

“The Long Beach Convention Center is under active consideration,” a spokesperson for the department’s Administration for Children and Families division said in an email to the Telegram. “When we make the decision to activate an Emergency Influx Site for unaccompanied migrant children we will notify state and local authorities as well as members of Congress.” 

Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia told the Telegram that the contract would last for 90-to-120 days, ending on Aug.2 at the latest. 

The facility will allow up to 1,000 children to be housed during the time.