The Department of Health and Human Services has called for volunteers from NASA to assist with unaccompanied migrant children who are overwhelming the system and leading to the opening of emergency intake facilities at military installations across the South, according to a media report.
As of Wednesday, HHS had more than 16,000 migrant children in its custody, with some 1,200 in a temporary structure at Fort Bliss, near El Paso, Texas. An undisclosed amount of migrants will be housed at a vacant dormitory at Joint Base San Antonio. Camp Roberts in California is also under “active consideration” by HHS, and Fort Benning, Georgia, was recently visited by the agency. Daily press releases from the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement outline ways the public can volunteer or donate to help migrant children.
“Health and Human Services (HHS) is seeking interested candidates to serve up to a 100-day voluntary deployment detail,” read an email to NASA employees Tuesday.
The notice said NASA employees would be working with Customs and Border Protection, the American Red Cross, FEMA, and HHS at emergency locations, including in Dallas, San Antonio, Fort Bliss, and San Diego.
“This is a reimbursables detail. Travel, lodging and per diem will be provided,” the email stated. “NASA employees wishing to apply for this detail assignment must have supervisory approval.”
Two different job types were noted: line of site support for youth care and case managers.
The job description requires applicants to “ensure child’s needs are met. Requires empathy, coordination and organizational skills.”
A Wednesday statement by HHS accompanying a Fort Bliss fact sheet said there was public interest in volunteering, but no mention was made of requesting that government employees volunteer their work time.
“Members of the public have expressed interest in donating or volunteering to help unaccompanied children,” the statement read.
“ORR appreciates the outpouring of support,” the statement continued. “Those who wish to give are encouraged to research local organizations that are providing care and assistance to those in need in border communities.”
The Intercept first obtained the NASA email asking agency employees to serve 120 days on voluntary deployment to help with the mounting border crisis.
HHS did not immediately respond to an inquiry from the Washington Examiner.
A Wednesday statement disclosed that HHS is currently in the care of 16,045 unaccompanied children and has discharged just 282.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to implementing an immigration system that is humane, orderly, and lawful,” HHS said in a Thursday statement obtained by the Washington Examiner.
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“This Administration’s goal is to move unaccompanied minors who arrive at our borders out of DHS custody and into HHS facilities, and ultimately place them with vetted family members or sponsors as quickly and safely as possible,” the statement continued.
The use of military facilities to house unaccompanied migrant children is not unprecedented, with tens of thousands of migrant children requiring emergency care during the Trump and Obama administrations. It is not immediately clear whether prior administrations sought federal government employees to volunteer on work assignments to assist the unaccompanied migrants.
