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First images of detention centres revealed after Biden government

The Biden administration has stated it will open further amenities for migrants after photos of a detention centre in Texas showed children hanging out in overcrowded temporary rooms.

Tuesday, 23rd March 2021

Young migrants at the facility are kept in crowded areas separated by plastic sheeting

The Biden administration has stated it will open further amenities for migrants after photos of a detention centre in Texas showed children hanging out in overcrowded temporary rooms.

According to the site in Texas, a tent city in Donna, on the border between America and Mexico, there are 1,000 people.

The photos are the first to show situations at such equipment since President Joe Biden took office.

Analysts said Mr Biden blamed for the increase in illegal migration to the

U.S.

Since taking office in January, Mr Biden removed some restrictions for those entering the U.S., instituted by his predecessor, Donald Trump.

His government has reversed a policy of deporting unaccompanied children to the border but has decided to process it and place it with sponsor families in the U.S.

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On Monday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the U.S. government would provide further accommodation for arrivals in the coming days and weeks.

"Places where children have access to health care, have access to educational resources - even legal resources," she said.

Her comments come after images released Monday by Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar, a Democrat, showed children sleeping in the Donna facility on thin mattresses on the floor under the blankets of foil. Possible lack of social distance during the coronavirus pandemic.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that people stay 2 m apart to prevent the spread of viral infections.

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Mr Cuellar said those housed in the centre were among eight plastic "pods" that were overcrowded.

Activists also said those housed at the site did not have adequate access to soap or food. "These photos show what we have been saying for a long time; it is that these border patrol facilities are not children," he said.

"These are not places where we want children to stay for a long period of time."

She said the alternative was to send children back "on this difficult journey - in our opinion, it is not the right choice to make".

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Journalists were not allowed to enter the detention centres, as Mr Biden did not serve, although the White House said they would.

Lawyers representing the children and lawmakers touring the facilities described the situation as cramped. The number of minor minors at the border has increased sharply in recent months.

The U.S. government has said it wants to work with Mexico and Guatemala to discuss the causes of the problem, which include the great poverty and violence in Central America.

I. Psaki said there were concerns about the growing number of unaccompanied children arriving at U.S. border crossings and that their well-being was a priority.

"Children bordering our country fleeing violence, fleeing persecution and fleeing situations are not a crisis," she said.

"We believe it is our responsibility to approach these circumstances humanely and to ensure that they are treated ... and applied under safe conditions."

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