Dallas County offers to house detained immigrant children

DALLAS - The Department of Homeland Security has given Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins the green light to help house some of the illegal immigrant children detained at the border.

Judge Jenkins said hosting the children is the compassionate thing to do. The county is offering to help house the young people and has not been asked by the federal government to do so.

On Monday, the judge toured some potential North Texas sites that DHS could choose in the coming days. He said they are looking for places that have playgrounds, cafeterias for eating and room for living quarters. In this case, classrooms would serve as sleeping areas.

“My focus is as long as this is happening, how can we provide The best compassionate care to the children,” Jenkins said.

Edison Middle School is one of the possible places to house and care for the children of refugees. Another location Jenkins toured was Dallas ISD's Cobb Athletic Center.

Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price doesn’t like the idea. He welcomes a discussion in Commissioner’s Court.

“You know, we don’t have the revenue streams that a number of other governmental agencies have. We have ad valorem taxes, property taxes. That’s it. We don’t have sales taxes. We don’t have franchise taxes. We have a delicate revenue stream and so at the end of the day, we need to manage and be the political subdivision that we are designed to be,” Price said.

“It’s not gonna cost our local tax dollar anything because this is paid for with your federal tax dollars. So whether the money is spent in the desert somewhere or spent here in Dallas, it’s the same money,” Jenkins replied.

Jenkins said the federal government would choose the locations, pay for necessary retrofitting to accommodate the children as well as pay for the contractor to run the entire operation.

A large number of Dallas-based charities would be able to assist the endeavor.

“Our charitable partners can come in and provide services because there are 7 and a half million people here and there's not that many people in the desert. We just provide those services better here, a lot more services to choose from than less populated less areas,” Jenkins said.

The process could involve several hundred children and multiple locations. A decision to move forward with a specific plan could play out within 72 hours.

Meanwhile in Denton, Republican Congressman Michael Burgess held a town hall Monday night where the border topic got very heated. He agrees with the zero-tolerance policy on the border and was met with fierce opposition from some in attendance.

Before the town hall even began, someone in the audience started screaming, "Let the kids go!" and the crowd erupted in applause.

Every person who spoke raised their voice. There was a lot of their frustration focused on what is happening at the border.

"I think there's a lot of people in here who are heartbroken,” one person said.

"They are not U.S. citizens, but they are human citizens,” another person said. “And we are scared for them."

"No, I don't believe in separating families. But the silver lining is maybe now something will get solved,” the Republican congressman said. "If you want to come to the United States for asylum, do so and do so the right way. Do not come in illegally."

Burgess said he wants legislative change that will stop the separation of families at the border, but he won't vote for any immigration legislation that does not include funding for the border wall.

"Not only do I feel there must be funding for the border wall, I feel it has to be at the levels requested by the president, which is $25 billion,” he said.

When asked if children are being used as political pawns, Burgess said “I would not be so cynical as to say that. Look, good policy is good policy. If we can come up with good policy, then do that. No one should ever use children as pawns."

The Catholic Diocese of Dallas has also been involved in talks about finding places to host the detained children in Dallas.

"I have no doubt that our Heavenly Father hears the cries of these children...We are prompted to respond to this situation with love...It is my prayer that our legislators and lawmakers will do the same,” Bishop Edward Burns said in a statement.

In 2015 during the Obama administration, there was a spike in illegal immigration by unaccompanied minors. Hundreds of children from Central American were housed in North Texas shelters.