Florida migrant teen detention center sees dramatic downsize

MIAMI (AP) — The nation’s largest facility for migrant children has released hundreds of teens to relatives in recent days, easing overcrowding at the South Florida center that has come under intense criticism from Democratic lawmakers who called it cramped and regimented.

The company that runs the Homestead facility says it has released 500 teenagers since Friday under newly relaxed federal government requirements for reuniting the children with relatives living within the U.S.

Caliburn International spokeswoman Tetiana Anderson says that drops the population to about 1,300, down from 1,800 last week and 2,500 about a month ago.

The change comes as the government is expanding a former oilfield worker camp in rural Texas to house as many as 1,300 children.