Illegal immigrant children may be able to hold off or even bypass deportation and it’s all thanks to the White House. Trying to prevent unaccompanied minors from waiting in a prison-like facility to work with immigration, the White House has its sight set on the state of Alabama.
The children that may be sent to Alabama come from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. This group fuels rumors that other states may soon be homes to unaccompanied immigrant minors from other popular places like Mexico. Still, the Northern Triangle, a breeding ground for violence, has caused more than 240,000 immigrant unaccompanied minors to flee to the United States, according to the American Immigration Council.
The trouble is, Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby and other officials are completely against the idea. He recently took to Twitterto announce his concern regarding the plan for the unaccompanied minors to enter the Roll Tide state. Senator Shelby’s Twitter comment was only the beginning of his rant on what he thinks is Obama’s “disregard” for immigration laws. Recently, he gave a full statement on the matter.
“The Obama Administration has once again shown an interest in potentially using Alabama’s military installations as temporary housing for illegal immigrants. These Department of Defense properties should be used for those men and women working to keep our nation safe – not to house illegal immigrants. President Obama’s blatant disregard for our immigration laws has led us to this point, and we must not allow his actions to burden our nation’s military and local communities. I will fight against any attempts to allow those who break our laws to be housed at Alabama’s military facilities, and I urge the Administration to humanely and expeditiously transport these individuals back to their homes.”
Most of Shelby’s harsh words are geared directly toward President Obama, whose Democratic view on the immigrant issue greatly differs from his conservation views. So far, it is unsure if he truly has a problem with the unaccompanied immigrant minors being sent to his home state, or if he’s sending out vicious words to the Democrats to stack up votes for re-election. What is certain is that Shelby has the support of many officials in Alabama, including Governor Robert Bentley. The governor also has some choice words for President Obama and the White House. Unlike Shelby, Gov. Bentley’s main concern is federal involvement in state affairs.
“The federal government is once again usurping the authority of Alabama in its effort to relocate unaccompanied minors. It is actions like this that led me to file a lawsuit in January against the federal government refugee resettlement program.While I am extremely sympathetic to the needs of unaccompanied minors, as Governor of Alabama, I feel strongly that states should play an active role in the decision-making process.”
Alabama is the same state that recently tried to kick all of its illegal immigrants out. The attempt failed , and now the U.S. federal government may be trying to teach the state a lesson. But based on additional information reported by Al.com , the “new homes” for illegal immigrant children will be more like prison farms.
In the meantime, Shelby, Bentley, and even a professor at the University of Alabama are urging Obama to deport these illegal immigrant children to their home countries. If justice, by their definition, is not served, their desire is for Obama and his confidant Hillary Clinton to finally be punished for the “misguided policies” on illegal immigration.
[Feature image via John Moore/ Getty Images]
