In June 2018, it gained notoriety for the practice of keeping children in large cages made of chain-link fencing.
[4][2] Minors who arrive at the Mexico–United States border unaccompanied or who have been separated from their families are supposed to only stay in this type of processing center for under 72 hours.
[3] The facility also houses adults and individuals are separated based on how they crossed into the United States.
[6] ABC News reported in June 2019 that Dolly Lucio Sevier, a board-certified doctor, visited Ursula after a flu outbreak at the facility that resulted in five infants requiring to enter a neonatal intensive care unit.
Sevier wrote that a medical declaration that the "conditions within which [the migrant minors] are held could be compared to torture facilities ... extreme cold temperatures, lights on 24 hours a day, no adequate access to medical care, basic sanitation, water, or adequate food."