JBLM may shelter detained immigrant children

Joint Base Lewis-McChord could become an emergency home for some of the thousands of undocumented children flowing from Central America. The Olympian reports that Gov. Jay Inslee has been communicating with the Defense Department and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services about using JBLM as a temporary holding place for the children before deporting them to their countries of origin.Last week, the Obama administration announced it is sending $9.6 million to the governments of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador to assist in repatriating returned migrants. The Border Patrol apprehended more than 24,000 child migrants in the last fiscal year, but by mid-June of this fiscal year, that number has already doubled to over 52,000. In a testimony on Capitol Hill today, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson argued, “…this is a humanitarian issue as much as it is a matter of border security. We are talking about large numbers of children, without their parents, who have arrived at our border — hungry, thirsty, exhausted, scared and vulnerable. How we treat the children, in particular, is a reflection of our laws and our values.“ – M.L.