Texas Governor Greg Abbott brought to light some reliable sources of claims of children being maltreated and sexually abused at a migrant facility in San Antonio. In a Wednesday press conference, Abbott called for the Biden administration to close down the migrant facility at the Freeman Coliseum Expo Center in San Antonio and urged that the children be moved to a different federally run facility.
Abbott claims the Biden admin caused all this and fails to take control of it. They opened borders and did not have a plan for the influx of adolescents they brought here. Now they face claims of unacceptable child abuse and neglect.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services both were given information that migrant adolescents were being mistreated at the Freeman Coliseum.
It is being said the children are being sexually assaulted, going without food, and not being quarantined from other kids when infected with COVID. Also, there are claims they are understaffed and cannot properly supervise the children.
“We don’t know the total number of children abused,” the governor of Texas said.
At the news conference, Abbott said that these claims were coming from more than one person at the facility.
“To end this abuse, the Biden administration must immediately shut down this facility,” Abbott declared. “The children who are in this facility should be moved to other federally run facilities where the federal government has the space, personnel, and resources to ensure their safety.”
“The Biden administration has already said they have other locations across the entire country,” Abbott said. “Certainly they must have locations that have better staff, better safety measures, and situations where children would not be subject to abuse like this.”
“Thousands of children have already been sent to multiple locations across the state of Texas, and from every location that I’ve have heard about in the state of Texas the number of children far exceeds what is allowed by law,” Abbott added.
“President Biden’s disastrous decisions caused this crisis, and his administration must act now to protect these children, secure the border, and end this crisis,” Abbott said in a press release.
Abbott has commanded the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas Rangers to open an instant investigation into the claims. The investigation will be lead by Richard Henderson, senior Texas Rangers lieutenant.
San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said the claims were concerning if true and requested a detailed investigation.
A White House spokesperson answered to the claims of abuse of illegal immigrants on Wednesday night.
“The Biden Administration takes the safety and well-being of children in its care very seriously,” the White House statement reads. “Currently we see no basis for Governor Abbott’s call to shut down the San Antonio Freeman Coliseum as an intake site, however, his claims will be looked into and investigated by the Department of Health and Human Services.”
Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said he was doubtful of the allegations.
“I’ve been out there, I’ve seen what’s going on,” Wolff told KENS. “They’re getting three hot meals a day, they’re getting two snacks a day. There’s a separate tent where up to 300 of them are cohorted if they do have COVID.”
“Health and Human Services (representatives) are out there, Homeland Security is out there, Federal Protective Services is out there. They’ve got … different agencies. CDC’s out there,” Wolff said. “I’ve not heard anything until the governor came down and said this. I just don’t know if it’s true or not, what he’s saying.”
The first five-hundred migrant males entered the facility on March twenty-ninth from El Paso during the illegal immigration surge. The males, ages thirteen to seventeen years old, were given a medical screening, clothes, and other necessities, stated by the Department of Health and Human Services. As of Wednesday, the Freeman facility was lodging 1,645 adolescents, 283 of them had tested positive for COVID and are isolated, HHS officials told KENS.
Up to 2,100 migrant kids could be lodged at the Freeman Coliseum, Bexar County officials told KSAT-TV. Plus there are an additional three-hundred medical beds ready at a separate facility.
Wolff said the adolescents would stay at the facility for 5 to 9 days, but those who tested positive for COVID-9 would be kept for two weeks.
Last month, Abbott bashed the Biden administration for other dangerous conditions at two other Texas migrant facilities. Abbott brought up serious water issue allegations at the migrant housing facility in Midland and of a COVID outbreak at the Carrizo Springs migrant facility.