EL PASO (AP) — A year after asylum-seekers and other migrants overwhelmed U.S. immigration authorities at the southern border, the Border Patrol is opening a processing facility in Texas that officials say could help it better care for detainees following outcry last year over young children and adults held in squalid, crowded conditions.
“This facility is much better for us, (and) most importantly, it's going to provide the adequate care and necessities for those that are in our custody,” said Chris Clem, deputy chief patrol agent for the El Paso Sector, which covers southern New Mexico and West Texas.
The agency said it plans to open the 1,040-person facility for families as early as this weekend. It gave journalists a tour Tuesday of the solid wall modular buildings that feature play areas for children, showers, laundry facilities, and other basic necessities not always available in remote Border Patrol holding centers.
