Parents, children wait hours in bitter cold for security screening

ATLANTA — Families, many with young children, waited in line in the frigid cold Tuesday morning for nearly two hours to reach the security screening checkpoint of Atlanta's Federal Immigration courthouse on Spring Street.     

One local immigration attorney said it was shameful.

"The speed at which security moves is definitely a problem," said immigration attorney Cathy Alterman.
 
Ana Santos, a mother, told Channel 2's Kerry Kavanaugh in Spanish it was too cold for her young children. She said it brought her 6-year-old daughter to tears.
 
Parents wrapped their children in blankets. Kavanaugh saw some with bare legs, as they stood in the cold.
 
"I call this shameful," said immigration attorney Luis Alemany. "I waited for about an hour. Behind me and in front of me there were people with kids, the kids were crying." Alemany says longs lines often form outside the courthouse. But, he says in the freezing cold there should be a plan in place.
 
"Court either should be scheduled later or children should be allowed to come into the lobby until everyone can be screened," Alterman said.
 
Security is overseen by Federal Protective Services, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security.
 
A local officer told us they are working to come up with a cold weather plan. He said he believes they are seeing the long lines due to the influx of unaccompanied children who crossed the border in droves earlier this year.
 
"As attorneys, we've contacted some of the powers that be, but nobody seems to want to do anything," said Alemany.

WSBTV