Congressman Mike Rogers today blasted as “misguided and misinformed” a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) plan to house illegal immigrants and children at the Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) in Anniston. Rogers says many of the illegal immigrants were likely apprehended during the growing crisis at the nation’s Southwest border.

In a letter today to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, Rogers strongly criticized the proposal and said he opposed the concept outright. Rogers first learned of the plan from an email sent to his office by the Federal agency.

The letter says, “The CDP is a world class first responder training facility; however, it was in no way built to house immigration detainees, much less children. CDP is over 900 miles from the Rio Grande Valley where many of these border crossings occur, and transporting illegal immigrants so far away from the border and their home countries would seem to make this crisis worse. It seems implausible that there is not a temporary facility within 900 miles of our southwestern border capable of housing these individuals without the disruption that I am concerned this transfer would cause to CDP operations. In addition, I am concerned the housing of many of these unaccompanied minor children who arrived here under the false belief they would be granted legal status – a belief challenged little if at all over the years by the Obama Administration – could put deep and challenging stresses on the local community’s health system.”

Last week, Congressman Mike Rogers demanded answers from Homeland Security Secretary Johnson on what could be done to remedy the recent surge of unaccompanied children from Central America illegally entering our country on the Southwest border.

“Right now, we have a crisis and I don’t see the Administration doing anything about it – other than trying to house the children…You can’t send your children up here and let them stay,” Rogers said during the hearing.

Rogers also last week sent a letter to President Obama blaming his Administration for their “deliberate failure to enforce our immigration laws.”                                                                                        -###-