The U.S. military has been asked to get ready to house up to 20,000 immigrant children, officials said on Thursday, as President Donald Trump’s efforts to roll back a widely condemned policy of separating children from their parents were beset by confusion.
While no decision has been made, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has already assessed three military bases in Texas and would review another in Arkansas, Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said. She said HHS had asked the Pentagon “to determine its capabilities to provide up to 20,000 temporary beds for unaccompanied alien children” at military installations.
Ms. White did not give further details and it was not clear how many of the children who could be sent to the bases are already being detained at other facilities.
Prosecution of parents
Mr. Trump and his administration have faced fierce criticism in recent weeks for separating more than 2,300 children from their families in order to prosecute their parents for crossing the border illegally. Mr. Trump backed down on Wednesday, signing an executive order to keep families together in detention during immigration proceedings.
But it remained unclear late on Thursday how and when those children would be reunited with their parents, and where families would be held while the parents face criminal charges. It was also not clear if the government would keep prosecuting cases against people caught crossing the border illegally. While prosecutors said they were not dismissing any cases, some hearings on Thursday did not proceed as scheduled. In McAllen, Texas, 17 immigrants were told by their public defenders that their cases were not proceeding for now.
Mr. Trump could face renewed criticism if thousands of immigrant children are soon sent to be housed on military bases.
It would not be the first time for such an arrangement. In 2014, the Barack Obama administration set up temporary emergency housing at three military bases during a wave of unaccompanied children — most from Central America — arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border.
While Mr. Trump has backed away from taking children away from their parents, it is not clear how his administration will handle immigration cases on the border going forward.
