SOUTHWEST KEY SAYS EMANCIPATION DETENTION CENTER NEARLY READY TO WELCOME KIDS, CITY SAYS NOT WITHOUT PROPER PAPERS 
The nonprofit looking to house unaccompanied children who crossed the border illegally in the complex at 419 Emancipation Ave. tells the Chronicle‘s Lomi Kriel and Mike Morris it’s only seeking one more permit — okaying a commercial kitchen — before it plans to open the East Downtown facility. And even if that paperwork doesn’t arrive, company officials say, they could just open up anyway with food procured by some other means. But according to city officials, 2 permits the building received back in June — a certificate of occupancy and safety survey — are void because both came through based on the structure’s designation as a “shelter.” Houston’s fire chief now says the complex is more of a “custodial care facility” — a classification with different requirements for city sign-offs since “the occupants are not going to be free to enter and exit as they wish.” His recommendation: start the application process for those 2 documents over from scratch. [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot] Photo: LoopNet
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“Emancipation Detention Center” – that’s brilliant.
Gross. Does speaking Spanish really matter this much?
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“Get out of my country!†“ I was born here!†are classic racism lines
HEB: Saying “get out of my country” to someone here illegally isn’t racist. Saying “get out of my country” to someone here legally is. It’s also a dick thing to say since this country belongs to everyone (who’s here legally).
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Which is why I hate when people say “They’re taking our jobs”. “our” jobs? All jobs are open to anyone here legally. Just because you have a particular skin tone doesn’t mean you have ‘dibs’ on any job.
I hear “they’re taking our jobs” so much more than “they’re giving our jobs to illegal immigrants”. Why is the anger always at the immigrants, not at the people who hire them? I mean, they wouldn’t come here if no one would hire them, right?
That is total BS by the city, to jerk around any company like that whether you agree with the company’s politics or not. And for people cheering on the city – be careful, one day the shoe may be on the other foot.
The City is about to jack around and get served up like they did on the Ashby Highrise project.
Classic line for the city to SW Key: “Papers, please!” [as in let’s see your documentation]
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No documentation means “deportation” as a detention facility. I just hope the city bureaucrats have run all of these antics by the city attorney’s office to make sure we aren’t angling to lose in court.
The city is not doing the right thing. They will end up providing the permits. Otherwise how they will explain that the same company has 5 more shelters in Houston and more than 800 people working in such institutions? It’s all about politics. Southwest key starting its growth with Obama’s government. Kids arriving alone to the border were received and placed in shelters where they were treated with respect and dignity while their cases were in process so that they could obtain an sponsor and be temporarily allowed to stay in the country.