DHS calls for military space to house 12,000 migrant family members

Following the "zero tolerance" policy, more than 2,300 children were separated from their parents, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced in April.

In a general outcry against politics, President Donald Trump last week signed a decree saying that he would end separations at the border and allow families to be detained together, but the policy of "tolerance" zero "remains in effect.

US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said Monday that two military bases, Goodfellow Air Base and Fort Bliss, had been identified to harbor migrants, but that he could not confirm the details of the plan. 39, use of these bases.

The Ministry of Homeland Security said on Saturday that customs and border protection had gathered more than 500 separated children under the "zero tolerance" policy with their parents.

On Tuesday, 2,047 children were still separated from their parents and placed under the care of the Ministry of Health and Social Services, according to the authorities.

Trump administration officials have repeatedly said that they know where all the separated children are, but lawyers and lawyers have described parents being unable to talk to or even locate their children for years. weeks after the separations.

In most cases, children can not remain in detention centers for more than 20 days, based on the limits set in the 1997 Flores Settlement Agreement and subsequent court decisions. The Ministry of Justice has requested that this period be extended so that families can remain together in detention pending their appearance.

The Associated Press, citing two Trump administration officials that it has not identified, reported that funding for the military's demand for family housing was still being processed. # 39; s development. The installation will be made up of homeland security officials and will have no impact on military training or preparation, officials said.

The application notes that the space is for men and women heads of household, said officials, who were not allowed to disclose the details of the claim publicly and spoke under condition of "no charge". anonymity, according to the AP.

The statement from the Department of Defense regarding the government's request for space comes a day after a federal San Diego judge ordered immigration officers to stop separating migrant parents and children who crossed the Mexican border and reunited families already separated.

Judge Dana Sabraw ordered the government to reunite families with children under five within 14 days, and families with children aged 5 and over within 30 days.

Sabraw said in his decision that "the facts presented in court represent a reactive governance – answers to respond to a chaotic situation of the government's own making".