Federal officials say the number of immigrant children being housed at a temporary facility in Fort Sill has topped 1,100.
Kenneth Wolfe, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said in an email Wednesday the latest count is 1,123. He says another 288 minors have been discharged from the facility since they started arriving there last month.
The children are mostly teenagers from Central America who were detained while trying to enter the U.S. illegally. They are among more than 52,000 unaccompanied children who have been detained since October. Similar shelters are operating in Texas and California.
The Defense Department has authorized the facilities to stay open for 120 days as officials try to find the children's families or place them with a sponsor before being subjected to deportation procedures.
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin and U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe toured the facility last Friday and reported that the children were in good spirits. U.S. Representative Jim Bridenstine attempted to visit the children today was not permitted by facility authorities.
