DALLAS, Texas -- Dallas County wants to house up to 2,000 of the Central American children detained after crossing the South Texas border, County Judge Clay Jenkins said Saturday.
Jenkins told the state Democratic Party convention Dallas and other counties should step up and help house children while they await transfer to relatives or agencies awaiting their court hearings, or back home.
"We can't help them all, but we can help some," Jenkins said. County and federal officials are trying to identify former schools, hospitals or churches with facilities to house children at federal expense, he said.
Jenkins said state Sen. Royce West is working to help locate facilities and coordinate with authorities. The children would have teachers and activities at the site and would not be enrolled in outside schools, Jenkins said.
"Instead of the agents at the border doing child care, we can handle that here and free them up to do their work," Jenkins said.
"This creates jobs. It doesn't burden the schools. And no local tax dollars will be used."
Jenkins said the first county temporary housing facility is already being prepared, and that officials are working with federal authorities to find two more by late July.
A surge of immigrant families, mostly from Central America, has overwhelmed federal authorities, who are urging families in Central America not to send their children to cross the border illegally into the United States.
Jenkins said immigration politics aside, Dallas County wants to help children who are "scared and trapped in not good conditions on the border."
Federal officials were not immediately available for comment.
Some children from the border already were coming to Fort Worth, where Catholic Charities is doubling its shelter space to help with the ongoing humanitarian crisis. The organization already had shelter space for 16 children, but is increasing that to 32.
Before 2012, the government typically served 7,000-8,000 such children annually, according to the federal Administration for Children and Families. The number increased in 2011-12 to 13,625. During the 2013 fiscal year, the government worked on 24,668 cases. The projection for this fiscal year: 60,000.
In Fort Worth, about 100 youngsters had received temporary shelter through Catholic Charities Fort Worth between June 2013 and February of this year. The North Texas Catholic, a Catholic publication , recently reported that the number had increased to 198.
The federal government operates about 100 short-term shelters in the United States, including the one in Fort Worth. But because of the influx, additional temporary shelters in numerous locations including Joint Base San Antonio Lackland, Naval Base Ventura County-Port Hueneme in California and Fort Sill in Oklahoma.
Both the state and federal governments have launched surges of law enforcement personnel and equipment along the Texas-Mexico border. Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Joe Straus have signed off on spending up to an additional $1.3 million a week for border security.
Several lawmakers -- including Republicans like state Rep. Jonathan Stickland of Bedford and Democrats like state Sen. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth -- have called for an emergency session of the Texas Legislature to respond to the crisis.
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Staff writer Diane Smith contributed to this report, which contains material from The Associated Press and Star-Telegram archives.
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