MURRIETA — As the border crisis continues, the Department of Defense is requesting that additional military bases make housing facilities and land available to accommodate a continued influx of illegal alien children.
According to information provided exclusively to Breitbart through a source requesting anonymity, Major General John T. Winters has specifically requested installation support for the Department of Homeland Security to provide temporary housing to unaccompanied alien children. The request requires bases to report any facilities across the U.S. that meet the following minimum specifications: a 24,000 square foot building, 15 acres of land “level and clear,” and access to utilities. The information is due to be reported by Wednesday afternoon, July 9.
When contacted by Breitbart News, Defense Department spokesman Air Force Lt. Col. Thomas Crosson confirmed the new military requests. Asked precisely how many bases are needed, Lt. Col. Crosson responded:”however many is needed to provide HHS with the mutually agreed upon amount of bed space.”
Currently, three facilities are being used: Naval Base Ventura County, in Port Hueneme, California; Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, in Texas; and Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The California base can house 575, and is accommodating teenagers from the ages of 13 to 17. Lackland and Sill can each hold about 1,200 youth.
The number, capacity and locations of the new military facilities will not be available until after bases report in with availability, presumably by Wednesday afternoon’s deadline. Lt. Col. Crosson stated that there is not a definite timeline for decisions to be made about housing the illegal aliens: “Once HHS receives the list of bases, they go through an internal review process to determine if they want to accept the facility.” Just because a military facility is offered does not mean that it will be accepted or used, Lt. Col. Crosson noted.
The Ventura County Star was able to tour the Port Hueneme facility on June 12 and reported many details regarding the facility, including the teens’ daily schedule. The Star reported hallways where, “posters tell the stories of President Obama, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman.”
About 100 demonstrators gathered there yesterday to show their support for allowing the illegal alien children to stay. Elsewhere–in Escondido, California and Murrieta, California–there have been massive protests iagainst the transfer of illegal aliens to their local Border Patrol office from Texas Border Patrol detention facilities.
Access to the military base facilities housing the illegal aliens has been extremely restrictive, both regarding the media and Congress, with U.S. Rep Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) being denied access to the Fort Sill facility on July 2.
Photo: Joel B. Pollak/Breitbart News
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