According to Alabama Congressman Mike Rogers (R-AL03), 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 border, which is in the midst of a humanitarian crisis brought on by children being sent across unaccompanied.
Rogers first learned of the plan in an email sent to his office by the Federal agency.
In response, Rogers penned a letter to HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson voicing his opposition to the proposal.
“The CDP is a world class first responder training facility; however, it was in no way built to house immigration detainees, much less children,” Rogers wrote. “CDP is over 900 miles from the Rio Grande Valley where many of these border crossings occur, and transporting illegal immigrants so far away from the border and their home countries would seem to make this crisis worse. It seems implausible that there is not a temporary facility within 900 miles of our southwestern border capable of housing these individuals without the disruption that I am concerned this transfer would cause to CDP operations. In addition, I am concerned the housing of many of these unaccompanied minor children who arrived here under the false belief they would be granted legal status — a belief challenged little if at all over the years by the Obama Administration — could put deep and challenging stresses on the local community’s health system.”
Rogers also grilled Homeland Security Secretary Johnson during a committee hearing, demanding answers on what could be done to remedy the recent surge of unaccompanied children from Central America illegally entering the country.
“Right now, we have a crisis and I don’t see the Administration doing anything about it – other than trying to house the children,” Rogers said during the hearing. “You can’t send your children up here and let them stay.”
In a letter sent to President Obama last week, Rogers urged the Administration to utilize National Guard troops to lock down the border in areas of the southwest border that are particularly susceptible to illegal crossings.
“I strongly urge you to heed the call of Congress and utilize additional National Guard units in the hardest hit areas to allow the Border Patrol to focus on enforcing current immigration laws,” Rogers wrote. “It is within your power and the law to stem the tide of illegal immigration and work with home nations in order to return these children to their families as quickly as possible.”
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