While the Border Patrol releases families, nonprofit groups and Pima County officials are arranging transportation for some of them to the Casa Alitas shelter in Tucson, which temporarily hosted thousands of asylum seekers in 2019. The Casa Alitas shelter generally hosts families, but not unaccompanied children.
Last month, CBP officials told Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s office that a tent-like facility called a “soft-sided facility” by CBP was planned for Tucson and another for Yuma, but officials did not say where the facility would be built or how many migrants would be housed.
The facility is rated for 500 people, but “with COVID considerations and litigation restrictions, our capacity will likely be between 150 and 200,” Modlin wrote on Friday.
“The demographics of the population in custody will of course have an impact on our capacity,” Modlin said.
The facility is likely to accommodate unaccompanied minors encountered by border police, Councilor Steve Kozachik said.
The email did not provide details of the conditions at the facility. For political reasons, CBP officials do not comment on leaked documents.
During an increase in asylum seekers in 2019, CBP built a similar facility next to the Border Patrol Station in Yuma. This facility cost $ 15 million and could accommodate up to 500 people, CBP officials said at the time. When news reporters toured the facility in August 2019, the facility was equipped with showers, air conditioning, and rows of shelves holding food, clothing, and other items.
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