President Joe Biden and the White House are still struggling to respond to the crisis at the border. Between blaming everything on former President Trump and holding nearly 25,000 separated migrant children in facilities down south, a recent report reveals that they’ve paid private contractors nearly $3 billion to house them in a hurry. Small businesses are struggling and schools remain closed, but President Biden wants to use your taxpayer dollars to house illegal immigrants instead.
According to the reports, the Biden Administration has invested about $3 billion in shelter construction and management contracts for the 22,000 children in government custody. The Department of Health and Human Services gave nearly $2 billion to the nonprofit companies Deployed Resources LLC, Family Endeavors Inc., and Rapid Deployment Inc.
The HHS said that the centers have been consistent with the “best practices and standards in emergency response” despite two of the facilities being quickly shut down in the past few weeks without explanation. Media organizations have been denied access to these shelters and an unofficial “gag order” has been placed on Border Patrol agents.
One Texas facility even reached 729% of its planned capacity at the beginning of March, with 1,800 migrant children staying in a facility designed for 250. Children told media sources that the conditions were so overcrowded they were sleeping on the floor, being denied shower access, unable to go outside, and being told they couldn’t call their family members on the phone.
“Children told attorneys who visited some sites they had not met with case managers, who are tasked with reuniting them with family members. HHS has refused all access to news media once children are brought into facilities, citing the coronavirus pandemic and privacy restrictions,” the report reveals.
Deployed Resources was awarded a $719 million contract by the Biden Administration to establish a migrant facility for children in Donna, Texas. While the shelter was designed to hold 1,500 children, photos surfaced of children being packed into small makeshift rooms that were described as “grim,” cage-like, and “akin to jails.”
Scott H. Amey, general counsel at the private watchdog group Project On Government Overnight, said that the government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on these facilities and that they should ensure they are meeting the needs of the children. The Biden Administration also allowed $850 million to be directed to migrant care, with an additional $850 million in the weeks ahead.
The HHS claimed that the additional expenses were due to rebuilding the systems with “pandemic-related safety precautions,” such as testing and social distancing. But Customs and Border Protection facilities are not testing the tens of thousands of children crossing the Border. Pictures have also been released showing dozens of children being held with no room for social distance while millions of Americans are still subject to the social distancing and other COVID-related mandates set by the government.
A Biden Administration official said that they are not performing testing inside the Border Patrol facilities and that they are only being tested when they are transferred to other intake facilities run by the HHS and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Another spokesperson admits that the positivity rate in testing was “anticipated” but emphasized that precautions are being taken. They would not elaborate on what those protocols were.
The Biden Administration also awarded $580 million to provide hotel rooms for migrants for six months but “could be extended and expanded.” It came as a hefty cost to the taxpayers as the program would provide migrants with direct care, wellness support, case management, home studies, holistic programming, and a wide range of helpful services. Meanwhile, homelessness is the biggest crisis in California at the moment, with more than 150,000 people in California homeless. But President Biden would rather take illegal votes.
The number of unaccompanied migrant children in the government’s care is at an all-time high and officials continue to maintain that they are “resolving a Trump problem” by digging deep into the taxpayer’s pockets. While President Biden and VP Harris argue that resolving the “root causes” of the problem will take time and can’t happen overnight, they sure don’t mind using your money to figure it out in the meantime.
