The San Diego Convention Center, known for hosting events like Comic Con, will be turned into a migrant minor shelter at the request of the Biden administration, the city announced.
The announcement came Monday in a joint statement from San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chairman Nathan Fletcher, who said that Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra “requested our help to house some of the unaccompanied minors at the border.”
As the coronavirus pandemic first swept the nation last year, the facility was used to house the homeless, given that it had enough space to allow for social distancing.
This week, those sheltering in the convention center were transferred to other homeless facilities to make room for the incoming illegal alien minors.
“The city and county will support this federally funded effort by providing vital services to these vulnerable children who came to our country seeking safety,” Gloria and Fletcher’s statement read.
“We are working closely with our federal partners to finalize the details for preparing to receive these young people and provide them with care, compassion and a safe space to transition while they are reunited with families or sponsors.”
While the plans have not been finalized, the city expects that once operational, the site will be used for about three months. Each child will have an expected stay of 30 to 35 days.
As it did for the homeless, the site will provide children with food, medical care, a place to sleep and a place to bathe.
Additionally, the city plans to create a “safe and secure recreation area” just outside the facility, as “children are not permitted to leave the convention center until reunification occurs.”
A spokesperson for HHS did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
The Biden administration undoing former President Donald Trump’s border policies have prompted a flood of Central American and Mexican illegal migrants at the US border, including thousands of unescorted children.
Central Americans looking for refuge from the Northern Triangle countries — El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala — have taken these policy moves, as well as the overwhelmingly more welcoming tone from Democrats, as a sign that this president is inviting them to cross the border.
Insisting that the border was not facing a crisis, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said earlier this month that the problems the agency faced should be blamed on the previous administration.
