A Baptist charity last week submitted a bid to purchase Weslaco, Texas’s Palm Aire Hotel & Suites for approximately $3.8 million in nongovernmental funds. The group, Baptist Family & Child Services, intended to convert the 600-bed facility into a dormitory for child migrants detained at the border, where it would house them for 15-day periods, “providing medical and mental health care, on-site educational programs, recreational programs and case management.” As of earlier this week, the group was preparing for a hearing before the city of Weslaco’s zoning board in order to secure a conditional permit. BCFS already runs a facility in Harlingen, Texas, but wanted to relocate.
Yesterday, however, BCFS abruptly pulled its proposal, citing “negative backlash caused by information misreported to the public.” What misreported information could they be referring to? Maybe stories like these: “FEDS TO OPEN $50 MILLION RESORT FOR ILLEGAL CHILDREN.”