The San Diego Convention Center, repurposed as a temporary overflow facility for unaccompanied migrant children, will house girls between the ages of 13 and 17, federal officials said Saturday, hours before the first 500 arrivals were expected from Texas and Arizona.
Finding shelter for girls at facilities across the country “is a great need right now,” said Pete Weldy, regional administrator for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, who will oversee the site.
The convention center will have capacity for 1,450 girls, Weldy said. Some 350 are scheduled to arrive by charter flight Saturday from a Border Patrol facility in the South Texas town of Donna, and 150 will come by bus from Tucson.
Officials expect the convention center, converted to what is called an “emergency intake site,” to reach full capacity by the end of next week.
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