What is the federal government’s responsibility to a state when it parks unaccompanied alien children in that state?
That question seems to be at the crux of the issue of the Biden administration covertly moving illegal immigrant children into states such as Tennessee, where they eventually would be released to sponsors and disappear into the interior of the United States.
The administration, by dint of unanswered letters and no communication to state and federally elected officials, apparently believes it bears little responsibility. The state’s governor, two United States senators and at least its 3rd District congressman believe it does.
To our thinking, an acknowledgement of the children’s movements and an explanation of where they are, how many are there, when they leave and where they go – whatever general information is legal to give – are the ethical and moral minimums the state is owed.
However, the situation about such children in a Chattanooga facility that contracts with the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to house them has become more acute lately with the knowledge that one child went missing and one child was reportedly abused by an employee at the facility.