TUNICA, Miss.–The Tunica County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 not to allow the old Harrah’s Casino hotel in Tunica County to become a facility for housing and processing unaccompanied minors and refugees. But, that may not be the end of the discussion.
“This would be a children’s shelter to serve as an influx care facility. It’s a humanitarian effort,” said Shantrell Nix, with Rapid Development, the organization that made its case Thursday. She said the federal government would bear the expense of medical care and fire protection. Sheriff K.C. Hamp has expressed concerns that the county has no hospital and could not provide emergency care.
“It would be a facility where children would be brought. They would be processed and reunited with a family member or sponsor,” said Nix.
One board member expressed some of the same concerns as state lawmakers, that the now abandoned hotel should be used for something that would benefit residents and generate tax dollars.
One of the citizens who signed up for public comment made the argument that at the least children would not cost the county any money.
“We’re talking about saving the lives of children and everybody’s minds are on dollars,” he said. “You don’t have it in your hearts to even save them. You’re concerned about dollars and I understand that. Those kids are not gonna bring dollars down one bit.”
Another resident says she’s concerned about safety, though Nix said the kids would not be permitted to leave the hotel.
“I do not believe this is gonna benefit our community whatsoever. There’s too many unknowns,” she said. “What concerns me is…you’re saying we’re all self-contained. I’m having a hard time understanding this.”
Nix plans to return and make the case again after addressing some of the concerns in an education campaign across the county.
