Where they go, we go: Protesters plan to follow migrant children after Tornillo closure

The Tornillo shelter for unaccompanied migrant children is still open and will remain so through early 2019. Protesters have been camped outside the port of entry for days, they’re calling for the shelter to be shut down, but it seems that may already be underway.

A group of protesters have been camping out at the Tornillo port of entry since December 23. Monday evening, they blocked the road going into the federal facility, stopping buses with shelter employees from going in; but the main part of the protest, the two people who were cited for blocking the road with water jugs surrounding them, weren’t speaking about immigration.

“Two of our protesters were sitting there with water surrounding them. That was our message, that water is life, that there’s many people dying of thirst, that we have issues with clean water, like in Flint, Standing Rock, so that was mainly our mission, to let people know that there are children dying, there’s families dying because of lack of water,” said Denise Benavides, a community organizer.

ABC-7 asked her to clarify that no children had died at the Tornillo site. “Not here, but since we’re occupying this was the easiest way to relay that message,” she said.

The protest also blocked buses from entering the site, something Benavides shared with a smile.

“Our goal was not by any means to stop anybody from going to work or anything like that. We definitely wanted to delay the process just a little bit, and it was just an action that we wanted to do. We knew they were going to find another route, because we know there is another route down Tornillo Island. So, by any means it wasn’t to hurt anybody or anything like that.”

For now, they say they plan to remain at Tornillo. The protesters won’t be out here forever, the shelter is expected to close around mid-January.

“I don’t know what will happen once Tornillo gets shut down. Tornillo is not the only facility, it just happens to be one of the biggest, we have facilities all over the country.”

Health and Human Services along with the nonprofit running the Tornillo shelter have both confirmed no more children are being brought to this specific shelter, but HHS said there is still a need for overflow shelters, and Homestead, one of their emergency shelters in Florida is being expanded by one thousand spaces and will be able to hold 2,350 children while they are placed with sponsors.

“We hope that these children get sent to their families or to their sponsors, but wherever they’re gonna go, that’s where we’re gonna go. That’s pretty much how this boils down, wherever the children go, that’s where we’re gonna go,” Benavides said.

Health and Human Services have told ABC-7 they still hold a capacity of 16 thousand beds for unaccompanied children across the country.