Dozens of people gathered for a small protest Saturday outside the Homestead Temporary Shelter for Migrant Children.
The facility closed in 2019 under the Trump administration.
Activists want it to stay closed but in February, the federal government announced plans to possibly reopen it.
Guadalupe De La Cruz who organized the protest says the land is toxic and the conditions inside are prison-like.
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“It also poses a hazardous threat to the livelihood of the children that were once housed here and that could potentially be housed here again,” De La Cruz said.
At one point, the facility housed 3,200 children between the ages of 13 and 17.
Activists say the real problem is a broken immigration system.
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“I, myself, am an undocumented immigrant, and I can’t imagine how traumatic it would have been for me as a child to come here and be a prisoner because that’s what it is, it’s not a shelter,” said activist Idalia Quinteros.
According to NBC News, the border patrol encountered more than 172,000 migrants crossing the border in March, a 20-year high.
More than 20,000 children are in US custody.
“The government, Congress, the Biden administration needs to change their priorities,” Quinteros said.
