Senator Turned Away From Miami's 'Zero Tolerance' Shelter

HOMESTEAD, FL — U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said he and South Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz were turned away Tuesday when they tried to tour a federal "zero tolerance" holding shelter outside Miami where some 1,000 undocumented migrant children were being housed. The Florida senator accused the Trump administration of engaging in a cover up to prevent lawmakers from getting a firsthand look at conditions at the facility.

"They obviously are hiding something," the Democrat senator told reporters. "They are using the excuse — get this — you have to apply two weeks in advance."

Nelson said he planned to inform colleagues of the incident when he returned to the Republican-controlled Senate Tuesday night in Washington, D.C.

"I'm going back and will be on the floor of the Senate tonight, telling the Senate exactly what has happened today," Nelson said. "This is not a good reflection on the Trump administration, that it is just perpetuating this policy of ripping children apart and they don't want to be held accountable. They know they have done wrong. They're starting to get this reminded every moment, and yet they are now embarrassed and don't want us to check on the comfort and welfare of these children."

Florida Gov. Rick Scott sent a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar, II on Tuesday blaming "decades of failed immigration policies from Washington," including the failure to secure U.S. borders for an influx of illegal immigrants. The Republican governor said that unaccompanied immigrant children have been housed in 100 shelters across 17 states for years, including the Homestead location under President Obama.

"Recently, we received unconfirmed reports that this facility is now potentially holding children who have been forcibly removed from their families as a result of President Donald Trump’s zero-tolerance policy toward illegal entry into the United States," said Scott, who is running for Nelson's Senate seat. "I have been very clear that I absolutely do not agree with the practice of separating children from their families. This practice needs to stop now."

Nelson had said earlier that some of the children were separated from their families at the U.S. border from Mexico while others crossed into the United States on their own.

"Our beef here — as is the whole country — is that while that waiting period is going on, they are separating the minor children from their parents," Nelson said prior to attempting to enter the facility.

Wasserman Schultz, the former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, agreed that the Trump administration does not want elected officials to see the conditions at the Florida facility and others like it.

"The Trump administration is engaged in a cover up of what is happening to the children that they are tearing from their families and detaining in facilities like this one here in Homestead all over the country," she said. "They are also lying, putting out conflicting information."

Some 1,995 children were taken from their migrant parents at the U.S. border between April 19 and May 31, according to Department of Homeland Security data obtained and reviewed by the Associated Press. That amounts to about 48 kids being separated from their families on any given day.

President Trump repeatedly has blamed the problem on Democrats, saying his political opponents passed the law that is tearing families apart. Democrats insist that no such law exists.

Nelson said the Homestead facility was operated by a contractor identified as Comprehensive Health Services.

The separations stem from a zero-tolerance policy toward families who are attempting to illegally enter the United States. Adult family members are automatically referred for criminal prosecution — meaning detention pending trial — while their children are held in other facilities. The children are not charged with any crimes.

Before the policy change this spring, entire families were referred for civil deportation proceedings and separation wasn't required.

Administration officials have said that the policy change is aimed at deterring illegal immigration but opponents argue that it is cruel.

"Nelson, who has urged the Trump administration to stop its inhumane policy of separating families at the border, filed legislation in the Senate earlier this month to prohibit the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security from continuing the blanket policy of separating children from their parents at the border," according to the senator's office.

The Homestead facility is located at 960 Bougainville Boulevard.

Sen. Bill Nelson photo by Paul Scicchitano