Lackland Air Force base to house illegal alien kids

This is a story I missed last Friday while away.  Readers (thank you) have been sending me links for days of other recent news accounts of the boom in illegal alien kids coming across the border alone.  They are officially known as unaccompanied minors and come under the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.  It is a topic we have discussed here on innumerable occasions.   (click here)

What really frosted me about this story is that the “humanitarians” act like they have no idea why the kids are coming in such great numbers when there have been so many stories about the dreamers! coming now in anticipation of amnesty before Obama leaves office!

Lackland Air Force base in San Antonio, TX

From the Houston Chronicle via Stars and Stripes:

Record-breaking numbers of children and teenagers caught in the U.S. illegally and alone have overwhelmed the federal government’s detention network, prompting officials to start housing up to 1,000 on a San Antonio Air Force base.

Kenneth Wolfe, an Office of Refugee Resettlement spokesman, said Friday that the Department of Defense has agreed to start temporarily housing children at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland starting on Sunday.

Resettlement agency officials used the base temporarily as an emergency shelter once before, in the spring of 2012, when the numbers of children caught crossing the border jumped sharply, leaving the federal government scrambling to find adequate bed space.

Since then, their numbers have continued to grow exponentially, driven by what advocates are calling a “humanitarian crisis” in Central and South America. Some 60,000 unaccompanied children and teens are expected this year – up from about 6,560 in 2011, according to the agency.

Give me a break! Stumped academics!

The exact cause of the influx has stumped academics, government officials and advocates. They describe a “perfect storm” of factors: lack of opportunity at home; family ties in the U.S. pulling them north; and the overriding factor – the rise of violent drug cartels and gangs in Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico.

Not one peep about the pull of Obama Administration goodies to “dreamers” and prospects for amnesty.

And, of course, no mention of the federal contracts to resettlement contractors (the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services) to help take care of the youngsters (most are older teens of course).

So, what has been happening to the “kids” who have turned 18 in the care of contractors in recent years?  They have simply been released into America.  Remember “George” in Galveston!

US immigrants send billions of dollars out of the country

They are officially called remittances and have made the news lately, here, because American banks are increasingly refusing to send money to Somalia fearing it will end up in the hands of terrorists.

Rep. Keith Ellison (right), with Somali president, wants to keep the “hawalas” hopping and the money flowing. http://www.twincities.com/ci_22619932/minnesota-rep-keith-ellison-arrives-mogadishu

The Pew Research Center earlier this year calculated that approximately $123,273,000,000 is sent out of the US every year.  Hat tip:  Jim.

The first five receiving countries in descending order are:  Mexico, China, India, Philippines, and Nigeria.   By the way, number 9 is El Salvador.

We’ve written about El Salvador previously in relation to remittances because the Salvadorans’ legal right to be in the US and work is continually renewed in the Temporary Protected Status program.  Even George Bush renewed their status here (again and again) and said we needed to continue to prop up the economy back home through remittances.

One of the major arguments of the open borders crowd is that immigrants work and fuel our economy, or is it the economy back home that they are fueling?

Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota has been the leader in charge of making sure money flows to Somalia, here.  It is estimated that $120 million goes to Somalia from the US every year, but note that Pew has no idea of what the real number is.

Is this why the Somalis of Minnesota are so poor?

See all of our earlier posts on remittances, here.