Greensboro immigrant facility set to be 'operational' on March 15, mayor says

GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — The long-planned Greensboro Influx Care Facility is scheduled to be operational in two weeks, according to Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan.

Vaughan announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Friday that the facility “will be operational on March 15.” She added that, while the facility will be ready, “no children will be placed at the facility at this time.”

North Carolina 6th District Rep. Kathy Manning says that her office has been “informed that the Greensboro Influx Care Facility will be open and operational on March 15” and that “children will not arrive on that date.”

Vaugahn’s full statement on the facility can be read below:

Dear State and Local Elected Officials,

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Administration for Children and Families’ (ACF) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is legally required to provide for the care and custody of all unaccompanied children referred to ORR until they are appropriately and safely placed with a vetted sponsor.

ORR’s priority is to place children into standard care provider facilities, therefore, it has worked to build up its standard bed capacity and currently funds more standard beds than at any time in the program’s history; however, influx care facilities (ICF) remain necessary to ensure that ORR can promptly accept referrals when ORR’s standard network facilities reach capacity.

To prepare for the potential need for additional beds and to provide services and care that align with child welfare best practices, the Greensboro Children’s Center, an influx care facility (ICF) in Greensboro, NC, will be operational on March 15.

This means the Greensboro Children’s Center will be ready to house children. It is important to note that no children will be placed at the facility at this time, while ORR monitors referrals and overall capacity needs. ORR will notify stakeholders before children are placed at the ICF.

While ORR’s priority is to place children into standard care provider facilities, access to ICF capacity remains necessary to ensure that ORR can promptly accept referrals when ORR’s network facilities reach capacity.

HHS will keep Congress, state, and local officials informed of future actions concerning the use of ICFs.

Mayor Nancy Vaughan

North Carolina Congressional candidates respond

Multiple North Carolina 6th District candidates have responded to the scheduled opening of the facility.

Christian Castelli team released the following statement on Friday:

Allow me to be very clear. Our southern border, the border in crisis and being overrun by illegals, illicit drugs, and human trafficking, by the weak leadership and incompetence of Joe Biden has given away America’s sovereignty. The decision to use taxpayer dollars to house illegal migrants, feed them, cloth them, pay them, and care for them is an absolute slap in the face of the families and small businesses struggling because of Joe Biden’s failed economic policies and inflation.

Why are we spending American taxpayer dollars — let alone spending Veterans’ Administration funds — to care for illegal migrants while we neglect American families and small businesses struggling because of rising prices, inflation, and the failed economic policies of Joe Biden? We shouldn’t. We can’t. And when I’m your congressman, I will put an end to it.

Campaign Manager for Castelli for Congress Tina Forsberg

Mark Walker also released a statement on Friday, saying:

We strongly condemn this concept, and have so from the beginning. The secrecy over this process has shown poor leadership and created even more distrust among the people in Guilford County.

For the federal government to enter into contracts of over $200 million to house illegals, when our own schools, in Guilford County, are meeting in worn out trailers, is shameful.

I also pushback on the mayor’s efforts to rebrand this as the Greensboro children’s center. Here’s the truth: This academy for illegals will consist mostly males, ages 13 to 17 years old. If we’re going to have an honest discussion, it needs to be based in facts.

Whatever party affiliation, most Americans believe it is past time to secure the border. I’m running for Congress to do just that.

Mark Walker

A spokesperson for Addison McDowell sent the following statement to FOX8 on Friday:

Addison McDowell is running for Congress because he thinks the border should be secured so other families don’t experience a similar tragedy as his family did when they lost his younger brother to an illegal fentanyl overdose. And so Joe Biden won’t put all-expenses-paid illegal alien housing facilities in the middle of NC. 

Advisor for McDowell for Congress Jonathan Felts, Jr.

Background

The facility, located on the former American Hebrew Academy campus at 4334 Hobbs Road in Greensboro, would house unaccompanied immigrant children temporarily — about two or three weeks — while family members and sponsors are located. The facility is intended to provide shelter for children ages 13 through 17 and has a capacity of up to 800 beds.

What’s happening on the campus?

Although the facility is abuzz with activity, the arrival of immigrant children still has no confirmed date. The ORR has kept the facility on “warm” status, meaning that there are preparations of the grounds and hiring of additional individuals that must occur before children are received.

Since a contract was reached in spring 2023 with Deployed Resources of Rome, New York, to handle security, maintenance and janitorial services, there has been a steady flow of workers at the facility.

Deployed Resources has been employing workers around the clock, and because of limitations for parking on-site and to mitigate traffic in the residential communities outside the facility’s gate, those workers are parking off-site and arriving for their shifts in shuttle buses – the larger, touring-sized vehicles.

About the program

DHHS in early June 2022 leased the Greensboro facility for 5 years with an option for 5 more, and a staff of about 1,500 employees is being hired to oversee the children on a 24-7 basis.

The ORR said in its letter to leaders in the summer of 2022 that “an individual needs assessment, a complete medical exam within 48 hours of arrival, appropriate immunizations and medical care, daily classroom education on-site, at least two group counseling sessions and one individual session with a licensed clinician weekly, case management services, outdoor and indoor recreation, contact with family members, and access to legal services.”

The ORR operates about 200 facilities in 22 states and has done so since 2002’s Homeland Security Act. In Fiscal Year 2021 the program handled 122,731 children, its information sheet says. The ORR monitors referral trends and assesses capacity needs to determine when an additional facility may be needed.

ORR says that in Fiscal Year 2021, about 7 out of 10 children at its facilities were 14 or older, and two-thirds were boys. About half of them were from Guatemala and about a third were from Honduras. The rest were from El Salvador and other countries.

The property on Hobbs Road is 100 gated acres that include 31 buildings of 412,712 square feet, an $18 million athletic center and natatorium, a variety of athletic fields and a 22-acre lake. The facility would be used to provide housing, classrooms and recreational facilities for the children who are unaccompanied or who are waiting for family members and sponsors.

The facility was formerly The American Hebrew Academy, a private boarding school operated as a 501(c)(3) organization, but its enrollment started to wane before the COVID-19 pandemic when it was shut down. It lists the Greensboro Global Academy as an educational program.

You can view this HHS fact sheet for more information.