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Dozens of women and children have arrived at the US border fleeing poverty and violence in their country of origin
US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis has confirmed that two military bases will be used as temporary camps to accommodate migrants who enter the United States illegally.
Speaking in Alaska, Secretary Mattis named Texas Bases but did not say whether they would house migrant children or families together.
The Pentagon said last week that it was planning to host 20,000 children detained at military bases.
In the meantime, Mr. Trump repeated calls for deportations without judicial process.
"People just have to be stopped at the border and told that they can not enter the United States illegally," he said in a tweet on Monday.
Where are the military bases located?
Secretary Mattis told reporters Monday that Fort Bliss and Goodfellow Air Force Base had been selected, but added that he "can not confirm details on how they will be used."
He also said that the army was still working through the details, including exactly how much capacity they need on both bases because "the numbers [of migrants] obviously are dynamic ".
Officials from the Department of Health and Human Services visited three bases in Texas last week to examine whether they could be used to house migrant children, US media reports.
During his speech to reporters heading to Asia to meet with Chinese, Korean and Japanese defense ministers, Mattis confirmed the two bases.
NPR had earlier reported that Ft Bliss, outside of El Paso, would be used to house migrant families, and Goodfellow Air Force, outside of San Angelo, would be used for unaccompanied migrant children, but it has not been confirmed yet.
In his remarks, the secretary of defense described this function as a "legitimate government function," adding that the army had already been called to receive victims of natural disasters and Vietnamese refugees.
What is the context?
The call for more shelter followed the general outcry about migrant children in government facilities.
According to US immigration officials, 2,342 children were separated from 2,206 parents between May 5th and June 9th.
While adults are detained pending their appearance, children are sent to detention cells, converted warehouses and desert tents as part of the "zero tolerance" policy introduced in April.
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Officials have also gone to court to try to extend the time during which children can be detained while parents are being prosecuted.
On Sunday, a 15-year-old boy was reported missing in a migrant children's center in Brownsville, Texas, police said.
The boy reportedly fled the center Saturday, but the authorities have not given more details.
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Trump has signed a decree banning separations, but thousands of children remain separated from their families
The Department of Health and Social Services (HHS) has asked the military to create temporary housing for the thousands of undocumented detainees held at the US-Mexico border.
E-mails from the US media revealed that the bases would house minors who entered the United States without an adult parent, as well as those who were separated from their parents at the border.
The shelters will be managed by HHS and not by the Pentagon, according to the Associated Press, and the facilities will be available as early as July.
What does Trump say?
Following similar comments over the weekend, President Donald Trump tweeted Monday that hiring judges "is not the way to go" and that "people just have to be stopped at the border".
"If this is done, illegal immigration will be halted in its tracks – and at very low cost, by comparison," He continued. "That's the only real answer – and we have to keep BUILDING THE WALL!"
These comments come just days after Trump overturned a policy of separating migrant children from their parents after a violent reaction at home and abroad.
The president has not made any distinction between economic migrants and those who ask for asylum in his posts on Twitter.
Mr. Trump has been criticized, particularly by his own Republican party, for his choice of language online.
Following Mr Trump's election in 2016, the number of migrants detained or detained while crossing the border has decreased considerably.
However, since February 2018, the number of immigrants crossing the border illegally is on the rise, with arrests last month more than double that in May 2017.
Although illegal crossings can not be accurately counted, border arrests serve as a measure of illegal crossings at the border.
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