Yellowhammer broke the news on Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) plans to house illegal immigrant children at the Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) in Anniston, Ala. Many of them were apprehended at the U.S. border, which is in the midst of a humanitarian crisis brought on by children being sent across unaccompanied.
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Saks) responded swiftly, penning a letter to HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson voicing his opposition to the proposal.
But prior to the Obama Administration announcing the move, a coalition of Alabama Tea Party leaders predicted it was coming and wrote a letter to Alabama Gov. Bentley asking him to intervene.
In a letter dated June 23, the Tea Party groups wrote to Bentley, in part:
We the People of Alabama respectfully request that Gov. Bentley (and our elected State Senators and Representatives) take a proactive stand by writing the Director of FEMA and the Sec. of Health and Human Services. We must tell them that Alabama cannot support lawlessness, nor do we have resources available to house illegal aliens in our communities. Governor Bentley should also demand prior notification regarding any plan involving Alabama. Our children and our interests must be protected by not allowing any of these manufactured “refugees” from being sent to Alabama. A Country without a border is chaos!
It is unclear what, if anything, the governor’s office can do to stop the Obama Administration from housing the illegal immigrants at the CDP, because it is a federally-controlled facility. Yellowhammer reached out to the governor’s office for comment and will update this story when we hear back.
The full letter from the Tea Party groups can be read below.
Dear Governor Bentley:
As always, “We Dare Defend Our Rights,” our Sovereign State and border. The situation on the US southern border is of grave concern. While everyone has sympathy for the plight of any child, we are first charged to defend Alabama’s children. Alabama has its own issues to contend with which include, unemployment, fighting the EPA, the overcrowded prison system, and the disagreement over how to educate our own children, just to mention a few. We agree with President Obama when he stated; “Our laws should respect families following the rules instead of splitting them apart.” The US should send these children back to their families as soon as possible. Warehousing them in various corners of the US will only hinder this process.
If President Obama ignores his Constitutional Duty to defend this nation against a tide of illegals, and Congress sits idle while the Attorney General seeks lawyers to defend these illegals, then the duty falls on our States. Our own Senator Sessions penned an article calling Obama’s action “lawless.” Also, the invaders streaming across our southern border are not all children. Many reports and photos show older men and gang members in the mix.
The United States has a legal immigration system, and we all agree that legal immigration has always added to the fabric of this nation. Once assimilated into the methods of the left, illegals will create a voting block that will overwhelm our system, create a new permanent underclass, and destroy middle class America.
We the People of Alabama respectfully request that Gov. Bentley (and our elected State Senators and Representatives) take a proactive stand by writing the Director of FEMA and the Sec. of Health and Human Services. We must tell them that Alabama cannot support lawlessness, nor do we have resources available to house illegal aliens in our communities. Governor Bentley should also demand prior notification regarding any plan involving Alabama.
Our children and our interests must be protected by not allowing any of these manufactured “refugees” from being sent to Alabama. A Country without a border is chaos!
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.