Miami, .- Dozens of activists of civil and religious groups protested this Sunday in front of the center for immigrant children of Homestead, south of Miami, by the death of at least seven children in other similar facilities in the country and asked for the closure of the shelter of Florida.
In the midst of the rain, protesters urged to stop the detention of undocumented children in the country, including those of Homestead, which with capacity for 3,200 children is the largest shelter of its kind in the United States.
The so-called “March to end the detention of children” was convened by a coalition of religious and civil groups, including the Center for Religious Action.
The home, administered by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), welcomes children separated from their parents at the border as well as those who traveled unaccompanied, between the ages of 13 and 17 years.
On June 7, US Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell requested the resignation of HHS Secretary Alex Azar for the humanitarian crisis that affects immigrant children separated from their families.
The Democrat lamented the death of immigrant children in the country and referred specifically to the conditions of the shelter for minors of Homestead, which according to said the HHS has denied “several times” the entry to “supervise” the welfare of the children.
The Homestead center “is a symbol of everything that is wrong” with the administration of President Donald Trump, the congresswoman added.
Last May, the authorities detained 132,887 people for illegally entering the country, almost three times more than the 51,862 last year.
Of those arrested for illegally crossing, 11,507 were minors without the company of an adult relative and 84,542 were part of groups of families in which there is at least one minor. (EFEUSA)
