Barragán Statement After Oversight Visit to Long Beach Convention Center Emergency Intake Site

LONG BEACH — U.S. House Homeland Border Security Subcommittee Chairwoman Nanette Diaz Barragán May 6, conducted an oversight visit of the Long Beach Convention Center Emergency Intake Site serving as a temporary shelter for unaccompanied migrant children and run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Chairwoman Barragán was joined by Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia and Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell. They met with the HHS leadership team running the facility, toured the inside and outside of the site, observed the intake process, met with federal volunteers at the site, and spoke with migrant children temporarily housed there. The tour also included observation of the onsite medical facilities, and education, recreation and residential areas.

 “The Biden Administration has been working hard to get migrant children out of Border Patrol custody and into HHS care as rapidly as possible,” said Congresswoman Barragán. “Facilities like the one we toured today in Long Beach provide a much higher standard of care while the Administration works hard to reunite these children with their families.

“There has been good progress on handling the increased number of migrant children arriving at our southern border, but there is still much more to do. We must work even harder to continue to reduce the time spent in Border Patrol and HHS custody and reunite these children with their families already in the United States. 

“These children are fleeing violent crime, hunger, poverty and devastating natural disasters in their home countries. We have both a legal and moral obligation to care for them and allow them to access our asylum process.

“I thank Mayor Garcia and the people of Long Beach for the outpouring of support for these children. We would always like to see these children placed in the more traditional, smaller facilities with more individualized and intensive services available and connected with their family as quickly as possible. From what I saw today though, the Long Beach Convention Center Emergency Intake Site is serving these children well. HHS is making medical and legal services available here, while also providing resources to meet the unique needs of children, like recreation and education.

“The kids I spoke to today are hopeful they will be soon be reunited with their families and get to start their new lives in the United States.”