Not Yet A Crisis, But A 'Challenge': Henry Cuellar On Young Migrants At The Southern Border

[TexasTowelie]

Last edited Thu Mar 18, 2021, 06:12 AM - Edit history (1)

Federal agencies in charge of immigration at the southern border have limited resources because of the pandemic and have faced challenges in recent weeks as a growing number of unaccompanied young migrants surrender themselves to U.S. officials.

Democratic congressman from Laredo, Henry Cuellar, is following the story closely. Cuellar, whose district stretches from San Antonio to McAllen in the Rio Grande Valley, told Texas Standard that U.S. Health and Human Services – the agency that houses and matches unaccompanied migrant children with sponsors in the United States – doesn’t have the space needed to house every child released from Border Patrol. As a result, children are staying in Border Patrol custody longer than the 72-hour maximum stipulated by law, in facilities not equipped for long-term stays. Cuellar says this is a challenge many administrations have faced before.

“Some people are acting like they’ve never seen this before. We’ve seen this before,” Cuellar said.

He says there were rises in young people crossing the southern border without authorization during the Trump and Obama administrations, and the same is happening now under President Biden. Cuellar says there are things the government needs to do now to properly care for young asylum-seekers already in the country. Hey says the federal government also needs to help Central American countries deal with the root causes of northward migration.

Read more: https://www.kut.org/politics/2021-03-17/not-yet-a-crisis-but-a-challenge-henry-cuellar-on-young-migrants-at-the-southern-border

[WHITT]

1. I Don't Get It

Surely there's a closed military base/facility or a recently shuttered hospital that the administration can temporarily commandeer, and FEMA has ENORMOUS resources. This should not be that difficult. It's only a few thousand children.

Just Do It.

[TexasTowelie]

2. The nearest military bases of any size are in Corpus Christi and San Antonio,

but all of them have current missions. The plan is to send these immigrants to Midland and the convention center in Dallas. Keep in mind that we are speaking about thousands of juveniles.

[WHITT]

3. Wasn't Referring To Existing Bases

Are you aware how many military bases/facilities have been shut-down over the past few years? And how many private-sector hospitals that have been shuttered? These are empty. FEMA has access to massive resources to temporarily stock such a place. And yes, I mentioned it's only a few thousand children, among a population of more than 330 million.

Just Do It.

[TexasTowelie]

4. Yes, I'm well aware of the bases that have closed in Texas for the past few decades.

There was a naval air station 25 miles away from my hometown that was closed (NAS - Beeville). There was also the Bergstrom AFB in Austin that closed in the 1990s, but that is now the main airport for the city of Austin so that is a no-go. There is an NAS in Kingsville, but it was part of the the Beeville, Corpus Christi triangle. I believe that the AFB near Del Rio is still open. I'm just picking the ones that are within about 150 miles of the border. In the case of the NAS in Beeville, the ownership of the property has reverted back to the county and has been repurposed.

As I stated, there are literally thousands of juveniles that need to be detained. There was a center in Karnes City that shut down not too long ago, but that was intended for very young children and only held about 500 people, same as the one in Hutto. Those facilities were intended to hold both parents and their children.

Finally, there were the tent camps in Presidio and Dilley that closed. Those are not practical solutions to this issue.

The issue is that the facilities that are relatively close to the border are over-populated and they can't move them out of the region quick enough. That's why they are looking at the Midland and Dallas sites. I believe that I read that they are looking at using facilities in Virginia also.

Also keep in mind that when you speak about FEMA resources, you are talking mostly about trailers like the ones used in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. Those trailers were not suitable for anyone because of formaldehyde contamination.

I've also kept up with the hospital closures in the state since my brother worked as a respiratory therapist at one of the hospitals that closed (and later reopened under new ownership). Most of those facilities can only hold a few dozen people and are not practical solutions to house the large number of immigrants that are currently being detained.

I could continue with a little research, but I believe that I made my point. This also neglects the fact that in addition to providing a roof over the detainees heads, they must also provide facilities for education and meet with legal representatives.

[WHITT]

5. Eh

why would FEMA need trailers if they're commandeering a base or huge multi-story hospital? They wouldn't even need all the barracks at a base or all the floors of a hospital.

[TexasTowelie]

6. Most of the hospitals that closed only have room for a

few dozen patients. South Texas never had many military bases. If the idea is to keep immigrants close to the border so that they can be deported easily, there aren't many places (bases or hospitals) available. The facilities don't exist.