About 250 immigrant rights supporters rallied outside Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme Tuesday afternoon to advocate for the 575 immigrant children living at a temporary shelter at the base.
The singing of peaceful hymns and chants of “No papers, no fear, our kids are staying here,” were a stark contrast to last week’s protest in Murrieta that forced buses transporting migrant children and families to be rerouted to San Diego after demonstrators blocked the roadway to the suburban processing center.
Instead, only a group of about five minimally vocal people were at the rally protesting against the children being housed at the base.
The Navy facility was one of three temporary shelters opened at military sites by the Department of Health and Human Services to help cope with the influx of unaccompanied children crossing the southwest border.
In its first month of operation, the Port Hueneme shelter has been a temporary home for 1,330 immigrant teenagers — primarily from Guatemala, El Salvador or Honduras — apprehended illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border without a parent.
The shelter was at its maximum capacity of 575 children ages 13 to 17 while small groups of California state legislators, Ventura County elected officials, and Southern California religious, social justice and philanthropic leaders toured the 42,000-square-foot facility Tuesday.
The Health and Human Services department intends to use the converted warehouse at Naval Base Ventura County as a temporary shelter for a total of 120 days since it opened June 6, according to Assemblyman Jeff Gorell, R-Camarillo, whose district director toured the shelter with members of the California Latino Legislative Caucus.
State senators Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles; Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens; and Norma Torres, D-Pomona; told reporters in a press call they were “satisfied” with the conditions of the shelter, but plan to make a formal request for President Barack Obama to grant the children refugee-status when the caucus reconvenes in August.
The children’s “No. 1 goal is to survive and to be reunited with their family members,” said Sen. Lara, caucus chairman. “Murrieta was appalling and that’s not what America stands for. Our country is better than that.”
The tours and rally occurred on the same day the White House announced a request for Congress to approve a $3.7 billion supplemental appropriation to address the increase in Central American immigrants crossing the southwest border.
Customs and Border Patrol detained 24,000 unaccompanied minors crossing the border in 2013. By May, that number had already reached 47,000, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Nearly half of the emergency funding — $1.8 billion — would be appropriated to the Department of Health and Human Services to provide care for unaccompanied children crossing the border.
The Department of Homeland Security transfers custody of unaccompanied immigrants under age 18 to the Department of Health and Human Services within 72 hours of being detained at the border.
The Administration for Children and Families provides short-term housing until the children can be placed with a family member or sponsor in the U.S. leading up to their immigration court hearing.
Nearly 760 immigrant children have already been temporarily housed and discharged from the Port Hueneme shelter, according to Administration for Children and Families spokesman Kenneth Wolfe.
About 85 percent of the children discharged from the Port Hueneme shelter are sent to live with a family member in the United States, said Minerva Carcaño, Bishop of the Los Angeles Episcopal Area, who also toured the shelter Tuesday.
The other 15 percent of the children will either go to a foster home, be transferred to a more permanent shelter or have decided that they want to return to their native country, Carcaño said.
Vanessa Frank, board chairwoman of Ventura County Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, toured the shelter before the afternoon rally along with Oxnard Councilwoman Carmen Ramirez and Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy executive director Marcos Vargas, among others from Los Angeles-based organizations.
“It’s been amazing to me, over the past month, to see how our county has come forward with remarkable support for these children,” said Frank, a Ventura-based immigration lawyer. “To see folks from Ventura County — doctors, lawyers, nurses, parents, therapists, art teachers, veterans — come forward in great numbers … It’s been remarkable and so moving.”
Martha Arevalo, executive director of the Central American Resource Center in Los Angeles, choked back tears as she addressed the crowd after touring the shelter.
“When I saw these kids I saw myself. When I saw these kids and they were smiling, I knew that they were scared and alone,” said Arevalo, whose parents are from El Salvador. “They’re having to make life and death decisions. It’s not about amnesty … it’s about survival.”