Feds drop plans for migrant children shelter in northern Virginia
(FOX 5 DC)
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The Trump Administration is no longer considering housing unaccompanied migrant children in northern Virginia, city officials in Alexandria say.
Mayor Justin Wilson tweeted the news Friday by sharing an e-mail he received from the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services:
The feds considered housing the children in vacant buildings in northern Virginia in addition to Atlanta, Los Angeles and Florida.
The HHS email says that officials are narrowing their search now to properties in Texas and Arizona.
The plans instantly sparked controversy when announced last month. Wilson wrote then that the City of Alexandria had "no interest" in housing undocumented children separated from their parents at the southern border.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser signed emergency legislation last month that blocked a similar shelter proposed for a shuttered school in Takoma.
At least seven children have died in immigration custody since President Trump announced his "zero-tolerance" border crossing policy including family separations last year.