Officials are considering a proposal to house unaccompanied migrant children at two former casino hotels in northwest Mississippi. As per the proposal, the “Influx Care Facility” (ICF) would be situated in the expansive Harrah’s hotel complex, which has been vacant since the closure of Harrah’s Casino in 2014.
However, the plan has faced opposition, including from the local sheriff, who said the county lacks resources to support it.
Local news outlets reported that up to 2,000 children and teens could be housed at the repurposed hotels. The casino was demolished since the closure, and previous redevelopment proposals for the hotels have failed, the Associated Press reported.
An executive session was held on Monday, convened by county supervisors, to discuss the project. However, Tunica County Attorney John Keith Perry told WREG-TV that supervisors have not officially endorsed the plan. Perry said the current owners are negotiating with a private entity interested in purchasing the property, which is in good condition after being closed for a decade.
Perry noted that any facility housing immigrants ages 17 and younger would have to meet federal regulations and comply with a court settlement that limits how long migrant children can be confined, the report said.
Tunica County Sheriff K.C. Hamp stated that the county lacks the necessary resources, including a hospital, to care for immigrants, who would need to be transported to neighboring communities.
“When it concerns public safety, public healthcare, along with child protective services, Tunica County does not have a local hospital in the event of an emergency,” Hamp said in a statement, as per the report.
State Rep. Cedric Burnett, a Democrat from Sardis, also opposed the plan. He said he supports efforts to redevelop the complex to enhance tourism and gambling in Tunica County. Burnett said the benefits of housing migrants would be limited to the current owners and the facility operators.
Harrah’s opened in 1996 as the Grand Casino, featuring 1,356 hotel rooms across three buildings. Its now-demolished casino floor was the largest between New Jersey and Las Vegas. The Tunica casino market has declined over the past decade, losing patrons to casinos in nearby states, including a casino in West Memphis, Arkansas.
