Just weeks ago, the great debate over immigration didn’t concern all Muslims worldwide but rather Syrian refugees. And though there have been reports of Syrian families at the southern border, WFAA senior reporter Jason Whitely in Dallas/Fort Worth says that what’s coming next to the border is another surge of unaccompanied illegal alien children.
#BREAKING: 500+ undocumented children heading to Ellis Co. tomorrow. 300 more going to Rockwall Co. Border seeing another surge of kids.
— Jason Whitely (@JasonWhitely) December 10, 2015
Whitely reports that the children were trying to enter the U.S. illegally in the Rio Grande Valley when they were captured. “The international border is seeing another surge of children traveling alone, despite federal efforts to stop them from leaving their homes in Central America,” writes Whitely. “Many are fleeing violence and drug cartels in their home countries and trying to reunite with family members already in the U.S.”
#BREAKING: HHS sending 500-700 undoc. kids to Ellis County. 200-300 will go to Rockwall Co. Counties won't offer, care, security, education.
— Jason Whitely (@JasonWhitely) December 10, 2015
#BREAKING: Undocumented kids in Ellis Co. bound for a church camp outside Waxahachie. Rockwall destination is a "private facility."
— Jason Whitely (@JasonWhitely) December 10, 2015
#MORE: There's one adult for every eight children, sources said, coming to Ellis, Rockwall Counties.
— Jason Whitely (@JasonWhitely) December 10, 2015
WFAA reports that Ellis County officials just learned Wednesday morning of the federal plan to house 500+ children there, who may begin to arrive as early as Thursday.
#BREAKING: Besides the two sites in Texas, Health & Human Svcs is also sending undocumented children to a location in California.
— Jason Whitely (@JasonWhitely) December 10, 2015
MORE: The undocumented children will be housed in Ellis, Rockwall counties for 21 days.
— Jason Whitely (@JasonWhitely) December 10, 2015
UPDATE: U.S. Health & Human Svcs said Ellis, Rockwall counties will be add'l bedspace for undocumented children, if needed.
— Jason Whitely (@JasonWhitely) December 10, 2015
NEW: Relief agency BCFS says it is preparing up to 1,000 beds in North Texas for Central American immigrants.@NBCDFW
— ScottGordonNBC5 (@ScottGordonNBC5) December 10, 2015
WTVT’s Jack Fink adds some demographic information, noting that the children range in age from 12 to 18.
#NEW #UnaccompaniedMinors headed to N. #Texas are from El Salvador, Honduras, & Guatemala. 12-18 yrs old. 2/3 boys, 1/3 girls. @CBSDFW
— Jack Fink (@cbs11jack) December 10, 2015
#NEW #UnaccompaniedMinors to be brought to privately owned facilities that the federal gov't contracts with. @CBSDFW
— Jack Fink (@cbs11jack) December 10, 2015
Editor’s note: The post has been updated with additional tweets.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member