Biden officials are considering naming the facilities “reception centers,” according to three people familiar with the discussions, on the logic that the name sounds less harsh.
The name would distinguish the facilities, one of which has been set up in Carrizo Springs, Texas, from existing structures maintained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Health and Human Services’s Office of Refugee Resettlement. Images of one such Border Patrol facility led to criticism that President Donald Trump held children in “cages.” Often, other such buildings are called “detention centers” or “holding facilities.”
In particular, one official said, the new name would mark the Biden administration’s intention to use the “reception centers” not for holding people in custody, but for serving as sending-off points for releasing migrants into the United States.
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