New video and images show groups of migrants being taken from an Arizona Holiday Inn that has been converted into a shelter and being dropped off at airports.
The footage shared with DailyMail.com by Arizona Republican Rep. Andy Biggs purportedly shows children and adults who have recently crossed the border getting onto buses at the hotel in Chandler en route to catch flights.
The hotel is one of seven Immigration and Customs Enforcement have taken over as part of an $86.9million to house 1,200 migrants until September to ease the overflowing detention facilities.
It is not clear where they are getting the flights, but many haven’t been expelled from the US and are awaiting immigration proceedings.
Some of these migrants are sent home while others are put into the Alternative to Detention (ATD) program, where they live in communities.
New video and images show groups of migrants being taken from an Arizona hotel that has been converted into a shelter and being dropped off at airports
The footage shared with DailyMail.com by Arizona Republican Rep. Andy Biggs shows children and adults who have recently crossed the border getting onto buses at a Holiday Inn in Chandler en route to catch flights
President Biden is facing continued pressure for releasing migrants into the US and is still facing the issue of overcrowded child migrant camps.
The footage was released to DailyMail.com on the day Vice President Kamala Harris, so the White House’s border ‘czar’ travelled to New Hampshire.
It has been 30 days since the Biden administration tasked her with dealing with the migrant crisis – and she still hasn’t visited the border.
Congressman Biggs told DailyMail.com: ‘Biden’s border crisis is real and it’s being forced into our local communities. These illegal aliens aren’t stopping in border states, they’re being given plane and bus tickets to anywhere in the country. We will not sit back and deal with this egregious exploitation of our border.’
Biggs’ office also said there was minimal security at the hotel and the residents were free to roam around.
As part of the $86.9million contract with the non-profit division of Endeavors, the Holiday Inn in Chandler was renamed ‘La Casa de la Luz,’ of ‘House of Light.’
The hotel is one of seven Immigration and Customs Enforcement have taken over as part of an $86.9million to house 1,200 migrants until September to ease the overflowing detention facilities
It is not clear where they are getting the flights, but many haven’t been expelled from the US and are awaiting immigration proceedings
Some of these migrants are sent home while others are put into the Alternative to Detention (ATD) program, where they live in communitie
The signs at the hotel in Chandler have been covered up and online searches state it has ‘permanently closed’
A guard is seen at the entrance to the hotel. Rep. Biggs’ office has said there is minimal security at the temporary accommodation
It’s located 15 miles southwest of Phoenix and has a lagoon-shaped pool.
A Google search states that the property is closed and photos taken from outside show all the signs have been covered up.
Families are pouring into the US from Mexico on a daily basis and have pushed crossings up to their highest level in 15 years.
In March, Customs and Border Protection released data showing they had encountered the highest number of unaccompanied children in history crossing the Rio Grande.
They were then filing into shelters that were over capacity and cramped. Some children say they are forced to stay in their cots all day, have to sleep in playpens and barely get outside.
There were also reports of COVID and lice outbreaks in the facilities.
Department of Homeland Security has turned to asking staff in other federal agencies, including NASA, to volunteer to foster some of these children to ease the pressure on the intake centers.
An ICE spokesman told DailyMail.com: ‘Starting April 9 in Texas and Arizona, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will provide emergency temporary shelter and process families placed in its custody through a short-term contract with Endeavors. The border is not open, and individuals continue to be expelled under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) public health authority.
‘The families that come into ICE custody will be housed in a manner consistent with legal requirements for the safety and well-being of children and their parents or guardians.
‘Custody is intended to be short term, generally less than 72 hours, to allow for immigration enforcement processing and establishing appropriate terms and conditions of release while their immigration proceedings continue.
‘All families will be tested for COVID-19 and receive a health assessment.’
Vice President Harris has insisted she will travel to Guatemala and Mexico in the next month, but won’t visit the border wall or the camps in Texas.
The White House has insisted her role is to try and determine the ‘root causes’ of migration, such as economic strife and violence that motivate people to try and reach America.
The Holiday Inn in Chandler, Arizona, is located 15 miles southwest of Phoenix and has a lagoon-shaped pool
A large room at the Holiday Inn, which is being called the ‘House of Light’ by ICE
Families are pouring into the US from Mexico on a daily basis and have pushed crossings up to their highest level in 15 years
The number of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border is spiking in 2021 compared to 2020, which saw a decrease in crossings thanks to the coronavirus pandemic
Photos released in March show children lying in foil blankets in a ‘pod’ in a holding facility in Donna, Texas
