AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Federal authorities want to build a South Texas immigration lockup for families amid the surge of youngsters pouring across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Adelina Pruneda says the center would be in Dilley, 70 miles southwest of San Antonio.
She said Thursday that ICE isn’t yet revealing details, including its cost or how many people the facility would house.
Federal authorities last month converted a 532-bed facility for men southeast of San Antonio to accept families.
Another detention center for parents and children in Pennsylvania, and a temporary New Mexico facility, together can hold about 800.
Advocacy groups decry the latest plan, pointing to the fraught history of a former family detention center near Austin. Families were removed from there in 2009, after human rights abuse allegations.
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