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Houston mayor urging contractor, landlord to scrap plan for unaccompanied minor shelter

On Thursday, Houston's mayor urged a government contractor and its landlord to abandon their plans to convert a former homeless shelter into a shelter for immigrant children who cross into the United States illegally.

HOUSTON — HOUSTON – Officials behind a proposed shelter in Houston for immigrant children crossing into the U.S. illegally say they're moving forward with their plan, even after President Trump's executive order to temporarily stop families from being separated.

On Thursday, Mayor Sylvester Turner urged Southwest Key, the government contractor, and its landlord to abandon their plan to turn a former homeless shelter on Emancipation Avenue into shelter for unaccompanied minors.

Dozens of demonstrators also gathered outside the building Thursday afternoon to protest the plan.

“The best solution would be for Southwest Key not to move forward with their plans,” said Turner. “It’s hard for the city to grant approval when we don’t know who’s going to be there. The plan to proceed in housing children under this policy that was screwed up from the beginning is not going to go down well. You are not going to remove the stain.”

Jeff Eller, a spokesperson for Southwest Key, told KHOU “nothing fundamentally changes” because of President Trump’s executive order. Eller says their plan is still to house an unknown number of unaccompanied minors, but not families.

“If there’s a family, they’re in detention under ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and CBP (Customs and Border Protection),” said Eller.

Eller also said other local nonprofits have taken in separated children and have essentially the same contracts.

A statement released Thursday by the nonprofit described a Tuesday meeting between Mayor Turner and Dr. Juan Sánchez, CEO of Southwest Key. It read, in part, “(Mayor Turner) understood other not for profits, such as the Diocese of Houston/Galveston currently care for immigrant children within the city of Houston.”

“With respect to the Catholic Charities, when they have dealt with children, they have been children that have come unescorted by themselves,” Turner said in response. “That is different from what Southwest Key has been doing. Southwest Key was taking kids that had been stripped away from their parents.”

Eller said the nonprofit has all the necessary city permits and are just waiting on a license from the state. If they obtain that license, Eller says they’ll know then how many kids the Houston shelter will house.

“It’s still gonna be a facility that’s gonna house kids,” said Cesar Espinosa, Executive Director of FIEL, a Houston-based immigrant rights group.

Espinosa he’s not condoning illegal immigration. Instead, he says he wants Congress to act on immigration reform.

“They should be with their family members,” said Espinosa. “Many of these kids who did come over as unaccompanied minors have family members that are here. Otherwise, it’s very difficult for them to even think about coming over themselves.”

Mayor Turner says because federal immigration policies and practices are “in limbo,”it could be weeks or months before the shelter opens.

KHOU reached out to the property’s landlord on Thursday but has not heard back.

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