Border children arrive in Staunton

STAUNTON – A national debate concerning Central American children crossing the border illegally has officially reached the area after the executive director for the Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center confirmed Thursday that some are being housed at the Staunton facility.

Executive Director Timothy Smith, reached by phone while attending an out-of-state conference, said seven children from Central America, all under the age of 18, have been placed in the juvenile center within the last month.

Most of the children recently caught crossing the border are from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, he said.

However, the juvenile center has been taking in children who have entered the country illegally for five years as part of a contract with the federal government.

"It's not really been a secret," Smith said.

Rumors

Early Thursday morning rumors began swirling that Staunton was housing detainees from Central America after NumbersUSA, a grassroots website that aims to reduce both legal and illegal immigration, listed the juvenile center as a relocation site a day earlier.

The recent surge made national news after residents in some cities protested the placement of the illegal immigrants, which can sometimes number in the hundreds and strain local resources, according to NumbersUSA spokeswoman Melanie Oubre.

Oubre said the most recent figures show that more than 50,000 children, many of them teens, she said, have crossed into the U.S. this year. Oubre said the number could reach 90,000 by the fall. She blamed changes in immigration laws that she said have slowed the deportation process for those not from Mexico.

Detention center's ICE contract

County Administrator Pat Coffield, who sits on the board that oversees the Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center, said five years ago the agency entered into a contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The juvenile center houses the children "until appropriate placement can be made," he said. Many come from Washington and Colorado.

As of Thursday, 24 out of 30 beds used for children in the country illegally were in use at the juvenile center.

While Coffield is aware of the ongoing political debate surrounding Central American children arriving at the border, he said, "Our contract pre-dates this current political issue in Washington."

The primary goal of the juvenile center, Coffield said, is to hold juvenile offenders. A secondary aim is to house at-risk children under the Comprehensive Services Act, he said. When there is space, it also houses ICE detainees.

Pipeline of children: A border crisis

Smith said the children are prescreened before arriving at the juvenile center. Nonetheless, he said his staff of one doctor and two nurses will give them a second medical screening.

Smith said at least half of the children request deportation upon their arrival at the juvenile center. The rest are eventually placed with family members in the U.S., and then must attend an immigration court date to decide their status. In the last five years, Smith said, "One child has been placed in Virginia."

Smith said the federal government pays for the child detainees, and said there is a "zero cost" to local governments. He said about 60 percent of the juvenile center's beds are used for regional juvenile offenders, and the rest are mostly ICE beds.

Reactions

Early Thursday, before The News Leader was able to confirm that the juvenile center is housing children who have fled Central America, Congressman Bob Goodlatte sent an email to the newspaper that said, "The Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center in Staunton has held unaccompanied alien minors in the past, and my office has an inquiry pending to determine if it is currently being used to house UAMs from the border or if it is intended to be used in the immediate future."

Julia Sensabaugh of Stuarts Draft, who has been following the NumbersUSA map, said she was surprised to learn the juvenile center has a vested interest in children who are in the country illegally.

"We view that building as being there for the children in our community," she said.

Children held by ICE stay at the juvenile facility anywhere from three days to three months, according to Smith.