Several dozen boys, many of whom were wearing gray government-issued T-shirts and navy blue shorts, walked out of a building labeled "DINING HALL" after breakfast. Behind metal barricades, the boys formed a single-file line on the way to their next scheduled activity. Some smiled and waved, seemingly amused by all the people with pens and notepads looking at them.
A group of about 20 journalists watched the immigrant children as the reporters were ushered through the Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Children, a facility under such tight control that Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., and other government officials were turned away Tuesday.
After Nelson's visit, he said "it's clear this administration is hiding something." Friday's one-hour guided tour seemed to be an attempt to dispel that idea. Cellphones and audio or video recording equipment were prohibited _ a "matter of security of privacy on minors in our shelters," said Mark Weber, a representative of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the Homestead and other shelters.
On Friday, the Homestead facility housed 1,179 migrant children 13 to 17 years old, including 70 who had been separated from their families at the Mexican border, said program director Leslie Wood. The numbers change day by day as children arrive in buses from the border or leave for permanent housing, usually with a parent or family member, Wood said. As of Friday morning, there were 792 boys and 387 girls. About 70 had been separated from their families at the border, and they are placed with the other children, Wood and Weber said.
The facility, once part of Homestead Air Force Base, is surrounded by a fence, but without barbed wire and is patrolled by unarmed guards. When asked if she felt comfortable calling the area a detention facility, Wood said no.
"It's not a detention facility," she said. "I see this as a shelter. We provide the least restrictive setting at this facility."
Journalists were first led into the area called the "operation center" where they were given fact sheets and other documents from several federal agencies. They were discouraged from asking too many questions, as the tour was limited to an hour.
Wood said that the facility has a capacity of 1,350 children. An HHS fact sheet said the capacity can "expand or contract as needed."
"When the number of children increases, we activate Homestead," Weber said.
The Homestead location was first used as a temporary shelter for children who came into the U.S. without their parents in June 2016, but was put on "reserve status" in April 2017, after those children were placed elsewhere. It reopened in February 2018.
Such facilities are the second step for children who cross the border. The first, Weber said, is processing at border control, which takes about 72 hours. Children are then bused or flown to one of 100 facilities across 17 states that house "unaccompanied alien children." Weber said the average stay at one of these facilities is 57 days, but said the average stay at the Homestead location is 25 days. After that, children are placed in permanent housing and go through the judicial system.
"The vast majority end up with a parent or close relative," Wood said. "Sometimes with a family friend. Sometimes we have to use foster care."
The reporters were led into the dining facility minutes after the last group of the day ate breakfast, according to a schedule provided by Comprehensive Health Services, which operates the shelter. It takes about two hours for all the children to cycle in and out for meals, Wood said.
On display in the cafeteria was a typical American meal: scrambled eggs, sausage patties, hash browns, biscuits and apples. Colorful trays were stacked on the counter. Spanish music played on speakers. Wood said the children, almost all of whom are from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, enjoy listening to music during meals. Colorful signs, much like ones you'd see in a middle school classroom, adorned the walls. "DO NOT ENTER / negative thoughts," one said. "The sky is the limit!" said another.
Students in the facility follow a rigid schedule that begins at 6:30 a.m. and ends at 10 p.m. Children are separated by gender and organized into different groups according to age. They have six hours of curriculum a day, excluding physical education. Their classes include English, math, reading and writing, science and history. Wood said the teachers have degrees, but do not conform to Florida standards.
Journalists were then shown a dorm room with six bunk beds, two sinks, a shower and a toilet. Dorms are divided by age. Siblings are not guaranteed to be in the same room, but can be if they are of similar ages. Personnel hired by HHS monitor the children at night.
In addition to school, students also get two 10-minute phone calls a week and recreation time. They are expected to participate in individual and group counseling sessions. Wood said children who display good behavior have the opportunity to watch movies or World Cup matches as a group. Church services are offered Saturday for the children, many of whom are religious, Wood said. These events take place in the multipurpose tent, a large air-conditioned area with hundreds of folding chairs.
Wood answered questions about punishment reluctantly, saying that employees use positive reinforcement. If a drug-addicted or pregnant child arrives at this facility, he or she is moved to other facilities. Children with possible gang affiliations are also housed at other locations. Journalists were not shown any cage-like facilities, and Wood denied there were any on site.
"These are good children," she said. "They're just fleeing violence in their country."
Journalists were also shown the education tent, another large, white, air-conditioned tent. Inside were several classrooms, separated by tarp-like barriers. Rooms looked to contain about 20 chairs each. The posters on the wall seemed to be a few years old; an image of all the U.S. presidents ended with Barack Obama.
Wood said many of the children were not used to having air-conditioned facilities. Even in the sunny, 90 degree heat, many children walked wore long pants or sweatshirts. A few boys played basketball on concrete as others played soccer on the patchy grass.
Reporters were also taken to Clothing Issue, a building lined with clear buckets full of shirts, jeans, underwear, socks, shoes, and other apparel, where children are issued five days worth of clothing and hygiene equipment. Upon entering the Homestead shelter, the children's possessions, other than their clothes, are taken away and "safeguarded" by the facility, Wood said.
In the Case Management room, the last full stop on the tour, several case management workers sat at their desks. The only child in the room was on a computer with a caseworker, using Google images to look at pictures of birds.
When asked if any children had attempted to escape, she said yes, but that the student didn't make it out and was apologetic when caught by security. She said there had been no suicide attempts.
Towards the end of the tour, Weber commented on Nelson and Wasserman Schultz and other elected officials being turned away earlier in the week.
"When someone just shows up with a few minutes notice, it doesn't give us an opportunity to not disrupt services," he said. The facility is giving official tours to members of the U.S. Senate and Congress Saturday.
Later Friday, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., briefly toured the facility. He said later that while he did not agree with the practice of separating children from parents at the southern border, the shelter was "trying to do the best they can" under "very challenging circumstances."
Rubio said parents who illegally enter the country should be detained with their children while their cases are processed.
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(Martin Vassolo contributed to this report.)
