"The image from September 13, 2018 shows that since June 19th, the date of a previous satellite image, the number of tent shelters has nearly quadrupled, from 28 to 101 tents," the release said. "At a reported capacity of 20 children per tent, the tent city can currently house 2,020 children."
The tent city was originally used to house children separated from parents earlier this year when the Trump administration launched a brief campaign — discontinued amid a public outcry — to separate children from border-crossing families and prosecute parents, the release said.
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Nearly 12,800 immigrant children are currently being detained by the US government, a record-high figure spread across 100 federally contracted shelters that are five times higher than the amount held in May 2017, according to a New York Times report in September.