House Republicans voted Thursday to ban the Defense Department from housing illegal immigrants on military bases, which might force President Obama’s team to develop an alternative plan for housing the unaccompanied children arriving on the southern border.
“By proving housing for illegal immigrants on military installations, we are wasting scarce defense dollars that should be used to train and equip our soldiers to fight our nation’s wars,” Rep. John Fleming, R-La. He proposed his solution as an amendment to legislation that funds the Department of Veterans Affairs and other military-related issues, and it passed 219-202.
Officials at the Pentagon and the Department of Health and Human Services have agreed to cooperate on housing the Central American children who come unaccompanied to the United States. The decision frustrated Republicans who disagree with the policy and fault HHS for choosing not to notify lawmakers of the agreement.
“One, I don’t think it’s the way, humanely, to deal with unaccompanied children from Central America is to put them on a military base,” Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., told local press after learning that an Air Force base in his state might house the children. “The second thing is, it’s an inappropriate use of a military base.”
Fleming’s amendment passed by a narrow margin considering the GOP’s 246-seat majority. Twenty-two Republicans voted against the measure, while six didn’t vote at all. Two Democrats — Rep. Brad Ashford, D-Neb., and Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa. — voted in favor of the bill.
