An old building in the border city of San Benito, Texas, is drawing scrutiny from immigration and human rights advocates after reports indicated that the structure, which once operated as a church, is now being used by the Trump administration to house pregnant unaccompanied minors taken into custody by immigration authorities.
First reported by The Texas Tribune, the decision to use the San Benito shelter came despite urgent objections from the administration's own health and child welfare officials, who warned that both the facility and the surrounding region lack the specialized medical care the girls require, according to seven sources within the Office of Refugee Resettlement, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, who spoke to the outlet on the condition of anonymity.
According to the investigation, more than a dozen pregnant minors have been placed at the facility since at least late July, some as young as 13, and at least half of them became pregnant as a result of rape, sources told The Texas Tribune.
"This group of kids is clearly recognized as our most vulnerable," one source said. "Staff are losing sleep over it, wondering if kids are going to be placed in programs where they're not going to have access to the care they need."
Former government officials, health care professionals, migrant advocates and civil rights attorneys told the outlet that the Trump administration's decision to send pregnant, at-risk unaccompanied migrant children to the San Benito shelter is intended to limit their access to abortion by placing them in a state where the procedure is largely banned.
"This is 100% and exclusively about abortion," said Jonathan White, a longtime federal health official who oversaw ORR's unaccompanied children program during part of President Donald Trump's first term. White, who recently retired from government service, said the administration attempted — and failed — to restrict abortion access for unaccompanied minors in 2017. "Now they casually roll out what they brutally fought to accomplish last time and didn't."
The report noted that none of the pregnant girls housed at the San Benito facility have experienced major medical complications since being transferred there in July, and several have given birth and remain detained with their infants, Aime Korolev, deputy director of ProBAR, a legal services organization that represents children at the shelter, told the outlet.
But officials and advocates warn it may only be a matter of time before something goes wrong, arguing that detaining pregnant unaccompanied migrants there carries significant risk.
"It's not good to be a pregnant person in Texas, no matter who you are," said Annie Leone, a nurse-midwife who recently spent five years caring for pregnant and postpartum migrant women and girls at a large family shelter near San Benito. "So, to put pregnant migrant kids in Texas, and then in one of the worst health care regions of Texas, is not good at all."
With Texas enforcing some of the strictest abortion laws in the country, doctors often fear performing procedures that could later expose them to criminal charges, leading many to leave the state to practice elsewhere.
Pregnant girls who recently endured the often dangerous journey to the United States face even greater risks, obstetrics experts said. Many were raped during their journey to the U.S. and may have sexually transmitted infections that can complicate pregnancy, compounded by little or no prenatal care, inadequate nutrition and the trauma of detention.
"You couldn't set up a worse scenario," said Dr. Blair Cushing, who runs a women's health clinic in McAllen, about 45 minutes from San Benito. "I'm kind of blown away by the level of risk that they're concentrating in this facility."
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