The Independent View: Some Migrant Kids Are Being Held in Secret Facilities

The Center for Investigative Reporting (REVEAL) is a nonprofit news organization based in Emeryville, California, and has conducted investigative journalism since 1977. It is known for producing stories that reveal inequities, abuse and corruption — and hold those responsible accountable. In 2010, CIR launched its California Watch reporting project; in 2012, it merged with The Bay Citizen. In 2013, it launched an hour-long public radio program and podcast, Reveal, that airs on 470 public radio stations. The budget for the CIR was approximately $9.3 million in 2016. The current business model emphasizes cooperation with partners and other news outlets rather than competition. Phil Bronstein is the organization's executive chair.

The Federal Government has been Detaining Unaccompanied Migrant Children in “Secret Shelters” that have remained Unknown even to their Attorneys.

Even the Exact Number of Locations is Unknown, but Reveal’s Auro Bogado and Patrick Michels write there’s “at least five in Arkansas, Florida, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, holding at least 16 Boys and Girls for the Refugee Agency, some as Young as 9 years old”.

Minors being Held at the Clandestine Facilities initially were Placed at Known Shelters around the Country but later were Transferred to these Off-the-Books Facilities that Specialize in providing for Youth with Mental Health and Behavioral Challenges.

But these “Off-the-Books Facilities” are coming with Disturbing Baggage of their own. One Ada, Oklahoma, Facility Detaining at least One Child is mired in “allegations of sexual harassment and physical abuse.”

Earlier this year, The Oklahoman Reported that “a federal inspection report from May 2017 showed the hospital had no training for nurses about signs that patients' conditions could be taking a turn for the worse.”

Robert Carey, the former Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) under the Obama Administration, said this appears to be a New Practice under the Trump Administration, which has Waged a War on Migrant Children. “If that was happening [before], it was something that I was not aware of,” he said.

But even if Kids had to be Moved to Specialized Facilities, he told Reveal that “he wasn’t aware of children being housed outside of publicly disclosed shelters.”

When the Administration has already shown such a Callous Disregard for Children under its Care, Government Attorneys recently Argued that Officials bore No Responsibility to Locate and Reunite Families Separated before the Implementation of the Administration’s Family Separation policy, this Report is, as Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said, “incredibly disturbing.”

“Imagine being a child in a strange country, hundreds or thousands of miles from where you grew up, surrounded by people who may not speak your language. You would be incredibly vulnerable—which is exactly why ORR is supposed to follow strict regulations governing where these children can be held and what child welfare standards must be met.” he said.