Several Dallas-based groups have been pitching in to help alleviate the situation at the KBF Facility according to a Catholic News Service article from March 23rd. In it they say:
“As federal officials announced that a downtown Dallas facility had been chosen to house up to 3,000 migrant teenagers starting the week of March 15, the Catholic faithful in the Diocese of Dallas sprang into action to help.
The Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center opened to house unaccompanied migrant teens in U.S. custody, with the first few hundred arriving March 17. The convention center will be used for up to 75 days, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press that was sent March 15 to members of the Dallas City Council. Federal agencies will use the facility to house boys ages 15 to 17, according to the memo.”
Despite the support, more help is still needed, specifically, the center is in need of bilingual volunteers according to a Fox 4 article from March 22nd. In it they say:
“With more and more unaccompanied migrant teens arriving at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas over the weekend for processing, the need for bilingual volunteers is great.
Hilda Duarte, a member of LULAC, registered to be a volunteer through Catholic Charities Dallas. The faith-based nonprofit is working with the American Red Cross to get the teens situated as the lengthy immigration process unfolds.”
Given the current volume of people currently housed at the facility and the fact that those numbers are growing, more interpreters and translators are definitely a must.
