WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a scathing letter to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, Alabama Congressman Bradley Byrne (R-AL1) and Congressman Jeff Miller (R-FL) strongly rejected the Obama Administration’s effort to house migrant children at Navy airfields in Baldwin County, Ala.
The sites are currently being evaluated by the Office of Refugee Resettlement in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
According to a report that was sent to U.S. Senator Richard Shelby:
The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) at HHS is identifying capacity, should it need to expand, to provide shelter for potential increases in apprehensions of Unaccompanied Children at the U.S. Southern Border.
Planning for temporary increased shelter capacity is a prudent step to ensure that ORR is able to meet its legal responsibility to provide shelter for Unaccompanied Children referred to its care by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and to allow the US Border Patrol to continue its vital national security mission to prevent illegal migration, trafficking, and protect the borders of the United States.
Despite that explanation, Byrne has serious concerns that the use of the facilities to house undocumented children will effect their day-to-day operations.
“Utilizing these airfields for housing UACs will significantly alter the intended use of these properties,” he wrote in the letter. “Military facilities serve an important purpose of training and supporting our nation’s servicemen, and these missions should not be pushed aside or ignored.”
The South Alabama Congressman was shocked that additional facilities are needed at all.
“The Obama Administration’s weak interior enforcement policies, executive action on immigration, and the perception of amnesty have become a powerful magnet that encourages illegal immigration across our border,” Byrne wrote. “The real focus needs to be on securing our borders, enforcing the immigration laws that are already in place, and discouraging more immigrants from making the dangerous trip across the border.”
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Byrne is just the latest of many Alabama top officials to criticize the potential move.
“These Department of Defense properties should be used for those men and women working to keep our nation safe – not to house illegal immigrants,” Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) said in a press release. “President Obama’s blatant disregard for our immigration laws has led us to this point, and we must not allow his actions to burden our nation’s military and local communities. I will fight against any attempts to allow those who break our laws to be housed at Alabama’s military facilities, and I urge the Administration to humanely and expeditiously transport these individuals back to their homes.”
Gov. Robert Bentley (R-AL), who was informed of the possibility on Friday, had a similar reaction. “The federal government is once again usurping the authority of Alabama in its effort to relocate unaccompanied minors,” Bentley said. “It is actions like this that led me to file a lawsuit in January against the federal government refugee resettlement program. While I am extremely sympathetic to the needs of unaccompanied minors, as Governor of Alabama, I feel strongly that states should play an active role in the decision making process.”
This is not the first time that an Alabama military base has been considered as a potential shelter for illegal immigrants. Earlier this year, Maxwell Air force Base in Montgomery was also considered for settlement by HHS, but was ultimately not selected.
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In response to that revelation, Martha Roby lashed out at HHS and spoke to Yellowhammer about her position. “The Obama administration is at it again, testing the waters for housing illegal immigrant children at Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base,” Roby said. “I wanted the Secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security and Health and Human Services to know that we are paying attention and will fight any attempt to house detainees at Maxwell-Gunter.”
Before that, HHS considered housing illegal immigrant children at the Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) in Anniston, Alabama. Fierce opposition from Roby and Congressman Mike Rogers (R-AL3), among others, deterred HHS from ultimately sending any unaccompanied illegal immigrants to the state in Anniston.
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The report sent to Shelby stated that the decision will be made “as quickly as possible.”
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