Camp Roberts in South County may house unaccompanied children crossing the U.S. border.

Overcrowded conditions or kids locked up in cages might be the first images that come to mind when thinking about detention centers and immigrant shelters. It’s not what U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley, saw when touring the Department of Health and Human Services’ facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas on March 26. “There was no overcrowding,” Panetta says, adding the facility had doctors, and kids playing sports and attending classes.

Every year, the number of unaccompanied children traveling north seeking the American Dream increases. According to HHS, there were about 13,350 children in its care as of April 1. During the last fiscal year – Oct. 1, 2019-Sept. 30, 2020 – 2,225 unaccompanied kids were released to sponsors in California, 59 of them in Monterey County. Children seeking their families or asylum status are discharged, then either released to sponsors or deported, within 37 days.

Panetta says the country needs more infrastructure to address the influx of immigrants. This includes increasing Border Patrol, and more courts and immigration judges to process cases. The U.S. still has in effect Title 42, which gives officials the right to turn away immigrants for public health reasons.

Despite President Joe Biden’s more pro-immigration approach than the previous administration, Panetta adds: “This administration has made clear that the border is closed and that we advise those young men and women, don’t make that dangerous trek.”

The current bed capacity for unaccompanied youth is the highest in the program’s history: 13,500. Since the number increases every year and Covid-19 guidelines require more space, they need more shelter facilities. To accommodate the influx, Camp Roberts, a California Army National Guard facility in Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties, may be used to house migrant children.

Panetta says if the Camp Roberts is utilized, he expects it will provide the same services he saw in Texas.