Bases to be used to house illegal-immigrant children under the DoD/HHS agreement at the cost of about $500,000 per month include Lackland AFB in Texas, Army base Ft. Sill in Oklahoma, and Naval Base Ventura County in California. Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington may be added to the list. Wittman said he is “concerned for the safety and welfare of these children, who are being housed in a system that is ill-equipped to handle them, with multiple agencies and departments essentially sharing responsibility.” “At the same time, we must keep in mind the surrounding communities who may be affected. Our witness today asserted that the communities were comfortable with the situation, but was unable to explain the nature of any discussions with these localities. This is not acceptable,” he said. “One thing is clear today after this briefing: DoD cannot be certain how long this mission will continue,” subcommittee Chairman Rob Wittman (R-Va.) said in a statement afterward. “And despite the DoD’s assurances, I remain concerned that the DoD’s commitment to this potentially long-term mission could have significant implications for our overall readiness posture and the general capacity of our armed forces.”
Posted on: Thu, 26 Jun 2014 18:08:02 +0000