Houston (AP) – New data shows the U.S. government has detained children at several major hotel chains during the coronavirus pandemic instead of transferring them to government-funded shelters. The figures released Friday show that since March, the Trump administration has used hotels to hold at least 660 children, most unaccompanied by a parent, before expelling them to their countries of origin. The administration says it cannot allow children to stay in the U.S. due to the coronavirus pandemic. But opponents of U.S. immigration policy contend that the pandemic is being used to deny access to asylum or other protections in federal law.
