MIAMI _ At least 10 babies and toddlers taken away from their parents after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border are being housed in "tender-age shelters" in Miami-Dade County, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., said Saturday.
Wasserman Schultz said the children _ whose ages range from newborns to 5-year-olds _ are being sheltered at His House Children's Home in Miami Gardens and Catholic Charities' Monsignor. Bryan Walsh Children's Village in Cutler Bay, formerly known as Boys Town.
The facilities are also housing about 88 separated children ages 6 to 12, she said.
When Wasserman Schultz, who represents parts of Miami-Dade and Broward counties, provided those figures, she cited a document given to her by federal officials.
Mark Weber, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, could not confirm the figures. He described "tender-age" shelters as facilities for youths 12 and younger.
"These are specialized facilities, licensed by the state, that are fully capable of taking care of very young children," he said.
Mary Ross Agosta, spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Miami, confirmed Saturday that the Walsh Children's Village, operated by Catholic Charities, is sheltering young children separated from their parents at the border.
"I cannot confirm the exact age of the children, but I do know that we do have children who are younger that we normally have. We normally take in children who are past the age of 10," she said. "I do know that we have children who are younger than that, quite a bit younger than 10."
Agosta said the facility is filled to capacity with 81 children. She did not know how many of the children came in recently because of the border separations.
The archdiocese opened the home in 1958 to house Pedro Pan children from Cuba as part of a program to resettle thousands of unaccompanied Cuban children in the United States after Fidel Castro came to power.
Cutler Bay Mayor Peggy Bell said Saturday afternoon that she did not know the number of separated youths who have been brought to the former Boys Town, or their ages. Despite attempts by her and the city administration to visit the shelter and get more details about who was being housed there, she said she has been left in the dark.
"I'm disturbed about that fact that I was not informed," she said.
