The Trump administration is looking into whether it can house children who illegally cross the border from Mexico at U.S. military bases, according to a report Tuesday.
The Department of Health and Human Services is set to visit four bases in Texas and Arkansas to see if they might be suitable locations for minors who arrived without an adult guardian or who might be separated from their immigrant families, the Washington Post reported.
The Defense Department has received no formal request from HHS to house immigrant children, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Jamie Davis told the Washington Examiner.
HHS is considering using space on military bases because its own shelter space is over 90 percent full and notified Pentagon staff about the planned base visits, the Post reported.
The military could lend the space to the department for reimbursement. Under such an arrangement, HHS could manage and provide direct oversight of the minor immigrants.
President Trump has been pressing his administration to slow illegal immigration from Mexico and Central America.
Last month, he ordered the National Guard to the southern border. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has authorized up to 4,000 Guard troops to assist border agents with non-law enforcement security operations.
The Obama administration used military bases as emergency facilities to house minor immigrants in 2014.
