Former Trump staff chief Kelly joins board of migrant shelter operator

[May 04, 2019]    (Reuters) - John Kelly, former White House chief of staff, has joined the board of Caliburn International Corp, the parent of an operator of a shelter for unaccompanied migrant children, a company spokeswoman confirmed on Friday.

White House Chief of Staff John Kelly arrives for the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons annual meeting at the White House in Washington, U.S., October 11, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Kelly left U.S. President Donald Trump's White House at the end of last year against the backdrop of changes to immigration policy.

Caliburn owns Comprehensive Health Services Inc, a private, for-profit company that runs a facility for unaccompanied migrant children in Homestead, Florida, some 35 miles south of Miami.

The site became a heated topic of debate, as immigration advocates and Democratic legislators complained many traumatized children who fled violence and poverty in their home countries were held in the institutionalized setting for too long before being released to sponsoring families who could better care for them.

Earlier in the day, CBS News reported Kelly's appointment.

(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

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