Abbott orders probe of coronavirus outbreak at migrant holding facility

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is ordering a state investigation into what he says is a coronavirus outbreak at a facility housing migrant minors.

Abbott said that there is a COVID-19 outbreak in the federally-run Carrizo Springs facility and is deploying the Texas Department of State Health Services resources and personnel to “investigate, identify, and combat” the spread of the illness. He also panned the Biden administration over its management of the camp in Midland, where a state body reported Friday that the water is unsafe. 

“The Biden Administration has been an abject failure when it comes to ensuring the safety of unaccompanied minors who cross our border. The conditions unaccompanied minors face in these federally run facilities is unacceptable and inhumane,” Abbott said in a statement. “From a lack of safe drinking water in one location to a COVID-19 outbreak in another, the Biden Administration has no excuse for subjecting these children to these kinds of conditions.”

“President Biden’s refusal to address the border crisis is not only enabling criminal actors like human traffickers and smugglers, but it is exposing innocent unaccompanied children to illness and potentially unsafe living conditions,” he continued. “The administration must act now to keep these children safe, secure our border, and end this humanitarian crisis.” 

Abbott’s statement did not detail if or how many minors had been sickened in either the outbreak or from the poor water conditions at either site.

BCFS Health and Human Services, which runs the Carrizo Springs site, pushed back on Abbott’s characterization of the coronavirus cases at the Carrizo Springs facility as an “outbreak.” It told The Hill that approximately one out of 10 migrants arriving at the facility from border patrol sites test positive upon arrival to Carrizo Springs, arguing that calling the situation there an “outbreak” would be equivalent to saying there’s an outbreak at a hospital admitting COVID-19 patients.

There are about 100 positive cases overall at Carrizo Springs, but HHS maintains there is no community spread within the facility. Most of the youths who are sick with the coronavirus are asymptomatic. 

Every migrant who enters the facility is immediately tested upon arrival and again within five days. Minors who test positive are put into medical isolation beds.

There are 180 medical personnel at the facility, including 12 epidemiologists. Staff members are also fully vaccinated

The investigation comes as Republicans pounce on the White House for a mushrooming crisis at the border.

More than 14,000 minors who traveled to the U.S. without their parents are in federal custody, an official said Thursday, with the number of attempted border crossings reaching a 20-year high. 

The Biden administration is turning away most migrants but is allowing in unaccompanied minors. 

The Department of Health and Human Services has more than 9,500 child migrants in its facilities, while U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has about 4,500. Evidence has emerged showing that minors are staying in CBP cells meant for adults for longer than is legally allowed.

Updated: March 20 at 12:44 p.m.