SAN ANTONIO – After spending time in a place that looks like cages, some immigrant children are now sleeping in beds and have toys to play with.
Dozens of children detained by Border Patrol are now in Catholic Charities shelters in San Antonio. Many children still trying to make sense of what is happening.
"When kids arrive from other countries it's scary, as you can imagine. They've been traveling for a while. They went to a detention center and then they come to us," said President and CEO of Catholic Charities Antonio Fernandez. "They have anything that they may want. A basketball court, soccer field for them. We try to give them as much love as many things as they may want that we can."
Fernandez said 82 immigrant children are in their care. Of those children, 22 were separated from their parents at the border. According to Fernandez, the rest of the children likely crossed the border alone. Children can only stay in shelters for 90 days.
"Right now, the kids make two phone calls or more to their families. We just make sure we are in contact with the government and the consulates to ensure we provide them with the right amount of information so we can actually get them back to the family members," said Fernandez.
The charity said waves of immigrant children arriving at shelters is nothing new.
"People from Central America, we've been doing this for five years," Fernandez said. "For years we've been seeing these children coming with their parents and without their parents, and they've been placed in shelters."
He hopes the images that have spurred so many emotions will spur action too.
"We would love to see people being called human beings not aliens. Or not form this place or that place. Children are now being targeted for actions they're not even responsible for. They're just children," Fernandez said.
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