The Obama administration say they were caught off-guard by the sheer number of illegal children who’ve crossed into America in recent days, but an employment ad from the Department of Homeland Security may prove otherwise.
The ad, dated Jan. 29 and posted on FedBizOpps.Gov, seeks contractors to “provide unarmed escort staff, including management, supervision, manpower, training, certifications, licenses, drug testing, equipment and supplies necessary to provide on-demand escort services for non-criminal/non-delinquent unaccompanied alien children ages infant to 17 years of age, seven days a week, 365 days a year. … There will be approximately 65,000 [unaccompanied alien children] in total.”
The advertisement, first reported by the blog Conservative Treehouse, is notable because of the specific number of expected illegal aliens that was cited.
“Why would DHS and ICE be claiming ’surprise’ by the current influx of unaccompanied minors on the border in June, when they were taking bids for an exact contract to handle the exact situation in January?” the Treehouse opined. “Secondly, how could they possibly anticipate 65,000 unaccompanied minors would be showing up at the border, when the most ever encountered in a previous year was 5,000 total?”
Homeland Security officials have actually seen a steady increase in the number of unaccompanied minors. Border authorities encountered more than 24,000 in fiscal year 2013, and more than 38,000 last year.
The DHS ad also specifies that any contractor making a bid for the job should have “personnel who are able to communicate with juveniles in their own designated languages,” and specifies that “there will be approximately 65,000 UAC in total: 25 percent local ground transport, 25 percent via ICE charter and 50 percent via commercial air.”
Since that solicitation, Homeland Security officials have upped their prediction and now estimate more than 90,000 unaccompanied children will be apprehended this year.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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