Officials in a South Texas county say they plan to submit a proposal to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to turn a shuttered nursing home into a new immigrant family detention center.
The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reported Duval County officials plan to partner with Serco Inc. to operate the facility in San Diego, located about 130 miles south of San Antonio.
Immigrant advocates, including Austin-based Grassroots Leadership, have criticized the county for not holding a public hearing on the proposed center.
Last month, officials in two other Texas counties voted against opening up similar detention centers.
Existing similar facilities -- in Karnes County and Dilley -- opened in 2014 as federal officials implemented large-scale family detention when large numbers of Central American women and children illegally crossed into Texas.
