Around 146 illegal immigrant children, who range in age from 7 to 12-years-old, arrived in Erie on Tuesday night. They will receive a temporary shelter at a Summit Township facility on Oliver Road.
Each room has 6 children assigned in the 648-capacity dormitory with 265 beds.
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More children are expected but it is not confirmed when these new arrivals will arrive.
Trish Danner, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services said that the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services may eventually contract local teachers to instruct English, geography, and math for the children.
More information from Goerie:
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The children — 146 girls — arrived at the Erie International Airport around 9 p.m. on a direct, 3-hour flight from El Paso, Texas.
The Boeing 737 — a government-contracted flight — taxied to nearby North Coast Air, where the children deboarded onto three buses bound for a dormitory at the Pennsylvania International Academy in Summit Township.
A physician, dentist and nurse performed on-site screenings, and each child was provided a bag of clean clothes, shoes and toiletries before being directed to the shower area, according to the department.
Trish Danner, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, said the children were largely upbeat, with one caseworker telling her that some girls were acting “like it was a slumber party.”
“After they showered, they (felt like) new kids,” Danner said. “Some hadn’t been able to shower in 15 days.”
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Danner said “the majority” of the 146 children have relatives in the U.S.
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