LA County plans to take in migrant children, but some activists are concerned

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The Long Beach Convention Center is seen on April 7, 2021. The city’s mayor, Robert Garcia, said the center will host 1,000 migrant children. Photo by Steve Cukrov/Shutterstock.

With so many unaccompanied minors crossing the U.S.-Mexican border, the federal government is scrambling to find places to house them. Roughly 20,000 kids are in federal custody right now — the vast majority from Central America. In Long Beach, Mayor Robert Garcia said his city will take in 1,000 children at the Long Beach Convention Center. There are plans for the Fairplex in Pomona to receive roughly 2,000 children. While local officials stress these are not detention facilities, immigrant rights activists have mixed opinions on the plan.