Georgia's Fort Benning Will Not Be Used To House Migrant Children

The federal government will not be opening a facility to house migrant children in Georgia after initially considering the state.

Fort Benning, near Columbus, was one of several potential sites that federal officials toured last week in the search for more space to house unaccompanied migrant children.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement says it's dealing with a dramatic spike in the number of children crossing the border without parents.

The agency already has received referrals for nearly 41,000 kids so far this fiscal year, marking an increase of almost 57% over the same period last year.

Instead of Fort Benning, migrant children be sent to an Army base in Oklahoma.

The new facility at Fort Still will be capable of holding 1,400 kids.

Record numbers of unaccompanied children have been arriving at the border, largely from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

In May, border agents apprehended 11,507 children traveling alone.