The Pentagon Now Says Goodfellow Air Force Base Could House 20,000 Immigrant Teens

 

THE PENTAGON -- Reports out of the Pentagon today indicate as many as 20,000 immigrant teens could be housed at Goodfellow Air Force base if government plans go through.  

According to a report in the Military Times by Tara Copp, at a Pentagon briefing Monday, Army Col. Rob Manning, a spokesman, confirmed Goodfellow would initially take up to 20,000 unaccompanied minors who crossed into the U.S. without a parent, and Ft. Bliss near El Paso would handle another estimated 12,000 undocumented families. Previously, families were split apart after they were detained at the border, but after widespread criticism the Trump administration ended the practice.

When news first broke that Goodfellow would be housing illegal immigrants, County Judge Steve Floyd said Goodfellow AFB will house 1,000 detainees initially expecting an increase to 7,500.  Floyd says they will be 13 to 17 year old unaccompanied males and females. They are expected to be at Goodfellow from July 31 to December 18 with a possible extension of time.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will be responsible to house, feed, clothe, and educate them.  

According to Floyd, a 75 acre area on base will be set aside and will have a separate entry.

Manning said the department is taking into account the toll that holding a large migrant population could have on the base and its infrastructure.“Really our responsibility is to find suitable land parcels in order to be able to support those populations that they’ve requested,” Manning said. “We’ve done the assessment to determine that the bases that we’ve announced could support the population without any impact to the garrison.”Manning said longer-term, DoD is “looking at additional facilities so we can break up those populations, so we can manage the impact on the installations.”

Subscribe to the LIVE! Daily

The LIVE! Daily is the "newspaper to your email" for San Angelo. Each content-packed edition has weather, the popular Top of the Email opinion and rumor mill column, news around the state of Texas, news around west Texas, the latest news stories from San Angelo LIVE!, events, and the most recent obituaries. The bottom of the email contains the most recent rants and comments. The LIVE! daily is emailed 5 days per week. On Sundays, subscribers receive the West Texas Real Estate LIVE! email.

Required

Most Recent Videos

Comments

Out of 20, 000 , there would be a few prospects for the gangs imho.
This is lunacy. We should be shipping these people back as soon as we catch them.

Put the pressure on Mexico some way, they are letting them come thru their country.

Build the wall....build the wall...build the wall

I remember years ago DOD was considering moving the Defense Language Institute to Goodfellow. The idea was dropped because it was determined that San Angelo’s water supply could not sustain the increased population. I know that DLI never came close to a population of 20,000, so what has changed? I agree these children need to be safely housed and cared for, but I’m thinking this is just another example of the federal government’s crisis mismanagement.

roblee, Wed, 07/04/2018 - 13:50

How many tents will they need to house 20,000 kids?
Yes, GAFB has lot of unused space, but, I doubt there is room for hundreds, or thousands, of tents.
Moreover, what are those kids going to do between meals?
Unfortunately, there are dark clouds down the road.
I wonder if the folks in charge of this project really understand and have solutions for the potential problems teenagers can cause after a few weeks of boredom in 100+ degree temperatures.

roblee, Fri, 07/06/2018 - 11:52

The Air Force is seeking public comment regarding the housing of 7,800 (not 20,000) children on 70 acres of land at Goodfellow. According to an announcement published on page 3A of the Friday edition of the Standard-Times, folks have 7 days to voice their pro/con position to the plan via letter or email.

You can only let hate fester for so long before people snap and become violent. We don't want them here. Period. We've been saying it for 30 years now. The only answer we've gotten is to add to the problem. Why is this not being talked about? Liberals are trying to force everyone to live together in peace, and all it's doing is causing racial tension. If we keep allowing illegal immigration, it's going to cause a literal race war. I guess until then were all going to live in La La land and act like it's all okay.

Post a comment to this article here:

X Close