Pentagon To House Migrant Children at Two Military Bases As Biden Blames Border Crisis On Trump

As the border crisis worsens, the Pentagon approved Wednesday a request to temporarily house unaccompanied migrant children at two Texas military bases. A request in this regard came from the Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) Tuesday.

A statement by Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said children will stay at a vacant dormitory at Joint Base San Antonio in Lackland while temporary housing will be constructed on an empty plot of land on Fort Bliss, outside El Paso.

"DoD will provide HHS officials access to these locations immediately to begin initial actions to prepare for receiving unaccompanied migrant children as soon as preparations are complete," the statement read.

The statement said the support will be on a fully-reimbursable basis and the "HHS will maintain custody and responsibility for the well-being and support for these children at all times on the installation."

It will not negatively affect military training, operations, readiness, or other military requirements, including National Guard and Reserve readiness, the statement read.

Kirby told reporters Wednesday that the military installations would house the children through the end of the calendar year under the initial requests from HHS. But, he didn't say how many children would be housed at each location.

While Pentagon had earlier said that the Biden administration was considering Fort Lee, Virginia, as a possible location to house migrant children, Kirby clarified that the installation was “no longer being considered” as “the infrastructure there just wasn’t suitable for children.”

A CNN report said the Border Patrol detained more than 11,000 unaccompanied migrant children between Feb. 28 and March 20. The report adds that as of Sunday, 822 children were held at Border Patrol facilities for more than 10 days. Federal law states that children apprehended at the border be turned over to HHS within 72 hours.

Meanwhile, President Biden, during a meeting on immigration, tasked Vice President Kamala Harris with the task of handling a surge of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Harris will focus on stemming the flow of migrants from Mexico and Central America by addressing the root causes of migration. The Vice-President said she'll engage in talks with the government and leaders of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to "strengthen democracy and the rule of law, and ensure shared prosperity in the region."

Biden also took the opportunity to blame the Trump administration for the crisis. "So this new surge we’re dealing with now started with the last administration, but it’s our responsibility to deal with it humanely and to — and to stop what’s happening," the President said.

Earlier, homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also blamed Trump for the current situation. “It is taking time and it is difficult because the entire system was dismantled by the prior administration,” Mayorkas told CNN’s State of the Union. “There was a system in place that was torn down by the Trump administration.”

Republicans, on their part, blame the surge of migrants on Biden's decision to reverse Trump's policies to deport illegal immigrants and keep asylum seekers in Mexico.

Trump's 'Remain in Mexico' policy had forced tens of thousands to wait in Mexico rather than entering the U.S., while their asylum claims are processed.