Iowa Republican Governor Rejects Biden Administration’s Request to House Illegal Minors in the State

The Biden administration’s open borders policy includes flying Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) around the country to house them until they can be distributed to relatives or “sponsors” across the United States. But the governor of Iowa rejected the administration’s request for her state to take part in the scheme.

Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds said the ongoing flood of thousands of minor migrants across the southern U.S. border with Mexico “is the president’s problem,” according to a report in the Daily Wire:

“This is not our problem,” Reynolds said, adding that the state does not have any temporary facilities to lend to the Department of Housing and Human Services. “This is the president’s problem. He’s the one that has opened the border, and he needs to be responsible for this and he needs to stop it.”

Iowa’s own Department of Human Services, it seems, made the decision, based on whether the state was equipped to respond to both local and federal needs amid a significant economic downturn and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This is due to limited resources and administrative concerns. We have an obligation to take care of our children first and absent the resources or a clear and comprehensive plan for federal support, we were unable to accommodate the request,” Iowa’s director of Human Services said in a statement to the White House. “We acknowledge this is an incredibly saddening and difficult situation.”

The Associated Press reported the U.S. federal government is housing some 15,500 migrant minors in shelters nationally. In March, a record number of more than 19,000 children were taken into custody by Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

So far, the Biden administration has set up facilities to process the minors — mostly male teenagers — in 11 states.

“The Biden administration will soon open an emergency facility in the northern border state of Michigan to hold children who come over the southern border without parents, a move that will require flying young children across the country,” the Washington Examiner reported. “The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement will stand up an emergency intake center in Albion, Michigan, to house up to 240 children who are age 12 and under.”

“While HHS’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) has worked to build up its licensed bed capacity, additional capacity is urgently needed to manage the increasing numbers of [unaccompanied child] referrals from [Customs and Border Protection],” the agency said in a statement.

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