GREENSBORO, N.C. — Soon, if you're driving down Hobbs Road near Jefferson, you could see children walking around Greensboro Piedmont Academy.
Formally the site of the American Hebrew Academy, the facility is set to begin hosting unaccompanied migrant children next month.
The property is planning to house up to 800 children both boys and girls between the ages of 13 and 17 who entered U.S. border custody without their parents or legal guardians.
The campus will become the government's largest active housing facility for unaccompanied minors.
All of this stems from a spike in child migrant arrivals into our country, causing a need for emergency housing.
Advocates for migrant children have criticized the facility and use of influx care facilities, particularly because they are not regulated by state child welfare agencies, unlike traditional Health and human services shelters.
The facility in Greensboro has more than two dozen buildings, sports fields, and an athletic center on a green campus near a lake. The site will offer migrant children educational, recreation, mental health support, and medical services.
A neighbor who lives directly across from the facility said she looks forward to the opening of the facility.
"I think that this facility is going to be much better than anything they have right now, because from what I have heard that the facilities for children are intense. This is a beautiful school. The buildings are lovely. I'm hoping that they get to use the facilities that are there," said Helga Barna.
Unaccompanied children are housed until they turn 18 or can be placed with a U.S.-based sponsor.
U.S. law prevents border officials from rapidly deporting non-Mexican unaccompanied children and allows them to apply for an immigration benefit, such as asylum or visas for abused, abandoned, or neglected youth, to try to stay in the country legally.
Republican lawmakers representing North Carolina have raised concerns about the timeline and feel the federal government did not inform them throughout the process. A group including Senator Thom Tillis and at the time Congressman Ted Budd, sent a letter back in July of 2022 asking for more information about the timeline and process for picking the site, including how they would address community concerns. The letter also listed nearly two dozen questions about the process for picking the Greensboro site and how it would run.
In a February 2023 letter, the federal agency in charge of the facility responded to lawmakers and laid out the process for picking the Greensboro site.
The letter detailed several meetings with stakeholders last summer, including meeting with city and county leaders, law enforcement agencies, religious organizations, advocacy groups, and a neighborhood property board.
The letter said stakeholders and federal officials representing Greensboro will be notified within 15 days of activating the facility.
HHS facilities generally have more services and better conditions than the jail-like stations and tents overseen by the Border Patrol, which is bound by law to transfer unaccompanied minors to HHS within 72 hours of processing them.
The Department of Health and Human Services, which runs the site is meeting with Guilford County leaders on Friday to give an update on what's happening at the facility.
We'll update you on air and online when we learn more about what's discussed in Friday's meeting.
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