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The Claim: There is a new child sex trafficking facility in Tucson, Arizona
A Facebook post spread misinformation about a newly built temporary shelter for migrants on the outskirts of Tucson, Arizona.
“This is a child sex trafficking facility here in Tucson,” falsely claims the text overlapping an image. “The address is 4300 E Los Reales Rd by the airport.”
The picture is a screenshot of various personal Snapchat stories, but the usernames on the posters have been blacked out. It has been shared more than 600 times since it was posted on Facebook on June 8th.
The user did not respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment.
The explanation for the new building is simple: it is a residential center for immigrants waiting to be cleared by US Customs and Border Protection.
Facility is a residential center for migrants
The images of migrants held in cramped CBP detention camps due to overcrowding continue to attract Americans’ attention.
A new facility in Tucson, which could accommodate up to 500 migrants, aims to counter the overcrowding of the city since 2020.
The tent-like facility opened on April 29th. It will accept between 150 and 200 migrants (due to COVID-19 restrictions) waiting to be processed by the border patrol.
Fact check: Kamala Harris’ children’s book is not in “welcome packs” for migrants
The temporary residential center is located at 4550 East E. Los Reales Road, which is on the same property listed on the social media post.
The 80,000 square foot facility will be used “to safely and expeditiously process people in custody of the US Border Protection,” CBP said in a press release.
Between March 2020 and March 2021, the Tucson sector saw the number of unaccompanied children crossing the border increased by 83%, CBP reported. Family members encountered during this period decreased by 53%, but the number of single adults crossing there increased by more than 200%.
The surge in migrants was due in part to the deterioration in economic conditions in Latin American countries caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, CBP said in the press release.
More:CBP: More than 180,000 migrants encountered at the border, but fewer unaccompanied children and families
In early April, before the facility opened, around 75 migrant families stayed in local hotels while waiting for their transportation to their final destinations, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said in a statement.
The makeshift residential center has a processing room, group sleeping pods with mats, an open outdoor area, showers and bathrooms, as shown by photos released by CBP.
A similar facility was set up in Yuma in April to house migrants awaiting clearance.
Both facilities, like many others across the country, are equipped with essentials for the migrants, including clothes, shoes, diapers, toothbrushes and groceries, as pictures from CBP show.
Our rating: wrong
We rate the claim that a new facility in Tucson is a child sex trafficking facility FALSE based on our research. According to the agency’s press release, the facility is actually a Temporary Customs and Border Protection Migrant Residential Center where the facility will be placed in the same area listed on the social media post.
Our fact check sources:
- USA TODAY, March 27, A look inside an immigration detention center: GOP senators “stunned” by the conditions in an “overwhelmed” location
- Customs and Border Protection, accessed June 10, US Border Patrol Southwest Border Apprehensions by Sector
- Arizona Daily Star, April 12, New details on Tucson’s facility to house migrants
- Customs and Border Protection, April 29th, CBP announces the opening of a temporary processing facility in Tucson, Arizona
- Regina Romero on Twitter, April 12, Statement by Mayor Romero on the city’s efforts to accommodate asylum seekers in local hotels and the border patrol plans to build a “soft-sided facility”
- Customs and Border Protection on Flickr, April 27, CBP is building temporary soft-side facilities in Tucson, Arizona
- Customs and Border Protection, April 21, CBP announces the opening of a temporary processing facility in Yuma, Arizona
- Customs and Border Protection built on Flickr, April 19, soft-side processing facility in Yuma, Arizona
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Our fact-checking work is partly supported by a grant from Facebook.
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