Congressman, Community Activists Protest Plans For Youth ICE Detention Facility In Arleta

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) - A Los Angeles-area congressman is voicing his opposition to a plan to open a detention facility in the San Fernando Valley that would house children who have been separated from their families after illegally entering the United States.

Democratic Rep. Tony Cardenas sent a letter Monday to the Department of Homeland Security saying he was "troubled" to learn of plans by the for-profit organization VisionQuest to open a youth migrant detention center at 9120 Woodman Avenue.

Cardenas' letter cited "the harmful and traumatizing effects caused by the cruel and unsafe conditions at detention facilities" under the Trump administration's "inhumane immigration policies."

Protesters gathered at the site of the proposed facility, which is located in City Council President Nury Martinez' district in Arleta. The site would house children as they and possibly their parents await immigration hearings, according to Martinez.

The facility formerly served as a convalescent home, according to the Daily News.

It's unclear whether the plans for the facility violate a motion adopted by the Los Angeles City Council last year that called private detention centesr "not welcome in the city."

From Oct. 2018 to Sept. 2019, a record 76,000 children crossed the border unaccompanied into the U.S., according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.