Summary: Two military bases will house 20,000 unaccompanied migrant children.
The Pentagon said on Thursday that military bases in Texas and Arkansas will be used to house thousands of migrant children caught crossing the US-Mexico border illegally.
The bases are expected to house up to 20,000 children as soon as next month, the Huffington Post stated.
This month, the White House faced intense backlash when news of border control separating parents from their children went viral. This week, President Donald Trump reversed his administration’s decision and signed an executive order that migrant families will be detained together.
However, the Texas and Arkansas bases will be reserved for migrant children who were unaccompanied.
“We have housed refugees,” Defense Secretary James Mattis said Wednesday. “We have housed people thrown out of their homes by earthquakes and hurricanes. We do whatever is in the best interest of the country.”
President Trump has faced intense scrutiny for his zero tolerance immigration policies, but the Huffington Post said that his predecessor President Barack Obama had a similar stance. During Obama’s administration, nearly 7,000 unaccompanied minors were housed in military bases.
In April, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that the administration had a “zero tolerance” immigration policy. All migrants entering the US illegally would face criminal prosecution and be deported, and while the adults waited in jail for their trials, their children were separated and put into their own detention centers. This practice of separation resulted in intense backlash.
Congress was expected to pass at least one new immigration law to address public concern, but on Friday, Trump tweeted that Republicans should give up focusing on immigration until after the midterm election in November.
“Republicans should stop wasting their time on Immigration until after we elect more Senators and Congressmen/women in November,” Trump tweeted. “Dems are just playing games, have no intention of doing anything to solves this decades old problem. We can pass great legislation after the Red Wave!”
On Thursday, a Republican-backed bill was shut down and another was postponed until next week, according to MSNBC. Earlier this week, Trump had called for Congress to make a change in immigration legislation, so his Friday tweet came as a surprise.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, said that the House will still vote on the proposed bill.
“I think we are doing quite well on the bill because the conference together is working on it,” McCarthy told MSNBC. “I think it’s important that the House be able to show that we can take the action.”
Next week’s bill skews moderate, but Republicans have said they may alter it to include aspects such as E-Verify which would make it more conservative.
- Trump Signs Executive Order Ending Practice of Separating Migrant Families
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