Long Beach Approves Plan To Temporarily House Migrants at Convention Center

LONG BEACH (KYMA/KECY) — Unaccompanied migrant children will now be housed at the Long Beach Convention Center after Long Beach City Council voted unanimously to allow the federal government to use the space.

The shelter will provide housing, food, schooling, and medical and mental healthcare for up to 1,000 migrant children at a time for up to three months. The children will only be housed at the convention center until they can be united with already identified family members or sponsors.

“The key component of this, which we all understand, is that this is temporary,” Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, who backed the plan, said. “There is a firm Aug. 2 date that the contract will end, and that it’s important for us that this is focused on family reunification.”

Garcia said the request for help from the White House and the federal government was a moral obligation, pointing to the overflow of children at the border.

Children are expected to begin arriving at the shelter by the end of the week.