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Feds Inaugurate New Texas Family Detention Center

The Obama administration is officially inaugurating a new family detention center in rural South Texas commissioned amid the recent influx of children pouring across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson is visiting the lockup Monday in Dilley, about 70 miles southwest of San Antonio.

Initially, it will hold about 450 adults and children but could grow to 2,000-plus capacity.

The facility opens as officials are in the midst of closing a temporary family immigration detention center on the grounds of a law enforcement training center in New Mexico.

This summer's immigration spike has slowed considerably. However, advocates say immigrant families are often fleeing drug violence or extreme poverty in Central America and should be released to relatives already in the United States instead of being locked up.

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