South Texas family lockup will be nation's largest
DILLEY, Texas (AP) — The Obama administration on Monday unveiled a former oil field workers' camp in rural South Texas that's being converted into the largest family immigration detention center in the U.S., as federal authorities brace for the possibility that mothers and children may again come pouring across the U.S.-Mexico border illegally.
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson visited the 50-acre (20-hectare) compound featuring 80 tan, two-bedroom, one-bathroom cottages connected by dirt roads and newly laid grass sod in Dilley, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) southwest of San Antonio.
The first group of about 30 immigrants will begin arriving in coming weeks and the cabins will eventually hold up to 480 people. Housing being constructed nearby will push capacity to 2,400 by around May. ...