Gov. Henry McMaster Bans South Carolina from Housing Unaccompanied Migrant Minors

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) has issued an executive order directing South Carolina’s Department of Social Services (DSS) to block the U.S. government from placing unaccompanied migrant children from the U.S.-Mexico border in his state’s group or foster homes.

The Post and Courier reports:

In a letter dated April 8, DSS Director Michael Leach informed Governor McMaster of the federal government’s preliminary inquiries to transport an unknown number of unaccompanied migrant children from the southern border and place them in South Carolina foster care and group homes licensed by DSS.

Fearing the ultimate displacement of South Carolina’s most vulnerable children in an already-strained system, Governor McMaster responded to Director Leach: “South Carolina’s children must always be given first priority for placement into foster care and the State’s strained resources must be directed to addressing the needs of its children. Allowing the federal government to place an unlimited number of unaccompanied migrant children into our state’s child welfare system for an unspecified length of time is an unacceptable proposition. We’ve been down this road with the federal government before and the state usually ends up ‘on the hook.’”

McMaster’s directive comes as the Biden administration continues to struggle with an influx of migrants crossing into the U.S. from Mexico. Approximately 20,000 unaccompanied migrant children nationwide remain in U.S. custody, pushing U.S. Border Patrol to the brink. To accommodate the latest surge, 13 additional detention facilities have been built by Health and Human Services since March 1.

Last month, President Joe Biden appointed Vice President Kamala Harris to handle the migrant surge. However, shortly after the president’s announcement, Harris’s team said the vice president would instead be leading diplomatic efforts to reach out to the Mexico and Central American countries to help combat the growing crisis.

Various Republican lawmakers have visited the southern border and shared shocking accounts of the situation. Speaking recently with SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Daily, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) said migrants seeking entry to the U.S. are harmed and killed by Biden’s “false promises” of a path to citizenship.

“I’m tired of the radical left — of Democrats, including those in the White House, right now — walking around patting themselves on the back for how compassionate they are when, in fact, they are endangering the lives of the immigrants who they are enticing to come here through their false promises,” Roy said.

“[Democrats] get out there and say all this stuff about amnesty. They encourage people to come here. … It’s irresponsible, and today, while you and I are speaking, some little girl is getting abused by a cartel or by some other illicit actor in Mexico because their parents decided to send them up here in a risky journey and they rode on top of a train,” the Texas Republican continued.

“These are human beings damn it,” he added. “These are people that are being used as political pawns by Democrats because they callously want political power and they sell something as false. They sell something that is untrue, and it hurts people and it hurts American citizens, and it hurts to immigrants who come here.”