LAWTON - A recent announcement that unaccompanied minor immigrant children will again be housed temporarily at Fort Sill because of a lack of space at government shelters underscores the desperate need for immigration reform, members of Oklahoma’s congressional delegation uniformly contend.
Fort Sill will have the capacity to house 1,400 children ages 17 and under, but the number of children being sent to the post and the timing of their arrival has not yet been determined, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) told Military Times, an independent source for news and information about the armed forces.
“No children will arrive before the facilities are prepared to safely house and care for incoming minors,” the HHS spokesperson said.
The facilities at Fort Sill where the children will stay are “hard-sided” structures, while semi-permanent, soft-sided structures will be used for support operations, the spokesperson told Military Times.
SECOND TIME
This is the second time in five years that Fort Sill, immediately north of Lawton, has been selected to provide temporary housing for migrant children. The post housed approximately 1,900 unaccompanied migrant children for about seven weeks in 2014 because of an earlier influx of migrants.
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, said the Trump administration assured him that, “unlike in 2014, there is an organized, responsible plan for temporarily housing unaccompanied minors at Fort Sill that will not have an adverse impact to readiness or the missions at Fort Sill.”
The Department of Defense (DOD) has secured a memorandum of understanding with HHS “to ensure that any funds expended by DOD in connection with this mission are reimbursed by HHS,” the Senator said.
IMMIGRATION FAILURES
Decades of “immigration failures … have created such a crisis on the southern border that it is necessary to turn to military resources” to assist migrant children from Central America trying to gain entry to the United States, Inhofe said.
Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) “are illegally crossing into the U.S. in unprecedented numbers,” said U.S. Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma.
“The humanitarian crisis at our southern border continues to worsen by the day,” lamented U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Moore, whose 4th Congressional District includes Lawton and Fort Sill.
Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) detained more than 144,000 migrants at the southern border in May, compared to 52,000 during the same month a year ago, Cole reported recently.
“This surge of migrants is overwhelming our usual facilities and resources,” he said, and he “fully support(s)” HHS “using Fort Sill to again house” migrant children.
OFFICE OF REFUGEE
RESETTLEMENT (ORR)
When unaccompanied children age 17 and under are apprehended at the border, and have no lawful immigration status, they are transferred to the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) in the HHS Administration for Families and Children, Military Times related.
That office is required to provide for their care until they are released to appropriate sponsors, usually a parent or relative, while their immigration cases proceed, according to the HHS spokesperson.
DRAMATIC SPIKE
The ORR has seen a dramatic spike in referrals of unaccompanied minors, with referrals of nearly 41,000 from October through April, records reflect. That’s an increase of nearly 57% over the same time period a year ago, officials said.
Inhofe laid the blame for the crisis squarely on former President Barack Obama, “whose policies invited these minors to come,” and on Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, who have rejected President Donald Trump’s request for $4.5 billion for border spending.
Conversely, Obama’s request for $3.7 billion in 2014 to handle a surge of young migrants at the border was blocked largely by Republicans. Nevertheless, Republican and Democrat members of the congressional delegation agreed that immigration reform is critical.
“We need comprehensive immigration reform, including increased support for our immigration courts,” said 5th District U.S. Rep. Kendra Horn, D-Oklahoma City.
“We must ensure our nation’s security and we must also uphold the highest standards of humane treatment - especially for unaccompanied children,” she continued. “I appreciate everything the service members at Fort Still will be doing to achieve both of these goals during this mission.”
FLOCKING TO U.S.
Families from across the globe are flocking to the U.S. “to escape violence and danger in their home countries,” Horn said. “These are parents trying to keep their children safe from violence. We should end the practice of family separation immediately,” she asserted.
“While the announced use of Fort Sill as a shelter for these children is only temporary, it certainly highlights the dire need for a permanent solution to manage the border crisis,” Cole said.
“[J]ust as we are a nation built largely … by immigrants, America is also a nation of laws that must be obeyed and properly enforced to maintain order and ensure the safety of all citizens,” Cole wrote earlier this month. “Unfortunately, our existing immigration system falls far short in that regard and desperately needs comprehensive reform.”
“We must work with Mexico and fix our own legal loopholes to solve the underlying issues,” Lankford said.
Inhofe said he would continue collaborating with Trump “to enforce our immigration laws and secure the border,” which are “our only hope of resolving the ongoing immigration crisis.”
OTHER OPTIONS
Officials had also been considering unused federal property at Fort Benning, GA, and Malmstrom Air Force Base, MT, as sites for emergency temporary shelter for the children, but those sites are no longer available, according to a spokesperson for HHS’ Administration for Children and Families.
Those bases were being considered because shelters at the border are beyond capacity to hold the children while HHS officials work to find sponsors for them, usually family members.
HHS has asked for an emergency appropriation of nearly $3 billion to increase the government’s shelter capacity.
Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan approved the request from HHS to house up to 5,000 unaccompanied children, and the request extends through Sept. 30, Military Times reported.
The temporary facilities could be opened and stay open through that date.
“I have no doubt that our leaders at Fort Sill, as well as local officials and the Lawton community, will be welcoming and supportive,” Cole said. “We know we can face this situation successfully and compassionately, because we have done so once before.”
“While the announced use of Fort Sill as a shelter for these children is only temporary, it certainly highlights the dire need for a permanent solution to manage the border crisis,” U.S. Rep. Tom Cole said.