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But company officials who ran the facility told ABC News last month that the company had refused to accept a government contract past Jan. 1. They blamed the government for causing the crisis by demanding onerous FBI background checks and bureaucratic rules that caused some children to languish at the facility for more than 50 days.

With the system buckling under the strain of caring for so many children, the Trump administration announced in December that it would loosen requirements for sponsorship.

Lynn Johnson, assistant secretary of the Administration for Children and Families at HHS, said that the last group of children will be discharged from Tornillo this weekend and the shelter will “continue the path towards closure.”

\"PHOTO:
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
PHOTO: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio stops at a gate after being told he could not cross through the gate to the tent facility setup at the Tornillo-Guadalupe Port of Entry, June 21, 2018 in Fabens, Texas.
>

“As the Trump administration continues to enforce current laws to address our nation’s crisis at the border, the program will need to continue to evaluate needs and capacity in order to care for the hundreds of (unaccompanied minors) that cross the U.S. border daily,” she wrote in a statement provided to ABC News.

Her statement, however, suggested that other facilities like Tornillo aren't going away and could be used again if there's continued influx of asylum claims at the southern border.

“The program is designed to expand and contract to meet these needs and facilities, like Tornillo, have been critical during periods of influx as was done in 2012, 2014, and 2016.”

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