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800 Migrant Children Housed In Long Beach Convention Center Reunited With Family

LONG BEACH (CBSLA) – A large portion of the migrant children who were housed at the Long Beach Convention Center have been reunited with family members.

Long Beach Convention Center To House Unaccompanied Migrant Minors
LONG BEACH, CA - APRIL 22: Sleeping quarters set up inside Exhibit Hall B for migrant children are shown during a tour of the Long Beach Convention Center on April 22, 2021 in in Long Beach, California. Long Beach officials and officials with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services led the tour. Migrant children found at the border without a parent were scheduled to be temporarily housed at the facility beginning today. Officials say the center can accommodate up to 1,000 children. (Photo by Brittany Murray-Pool/Getty Images

Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia reported Friday that 800 children have been reunited with family, based on numbers from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Another 114 children remain at the shelter.

The shelter, which houses boys under the age of 12 and girls under 17, first opened in April in response to the humanitarian crisis at the southern border.

The shelter provides food, schooling, healthcare and mental healthcare services. It is fully funded by the federal government. The city's contract with HHS runs through Aug. 1.

A second such shelter is also operating at the Pomona Fairplex. The Fairplex, home to the Los Angeles County Fair, is capable of housing up to 2,500 children, mostly between the ages of 12 and 17. Last week, authorities issued a call asking for hundreds of people to help care for those children.

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