The federal government denied the District of Columbia’s second request for National Guard help with managing the illegal immigrants being bused in from Texas and Arizona.
The Pentagon said Monday that it “would not be appropriate” for the D.C. National Guard to take part in such an effort and that Mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposed respite center of the D.C. Armory lacks the amenities needed to humanely receive people, according to multiple outlets that reviewed the rejection letter.
Officials also said the District has plenty of grant money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that can be distributed to nonprofits already assisting the migrants.
The mayor had characterized the migrants’ arrival in the District as a “humanitarian crisis” that had reached a “tipping point” in her July letter to the Department of Defense (DOD).
Texas’ Republican Gov. Greg Abbott began busing the migrants to the District and New York in April. Arizona’s Republican Gov. Doug Ducey began doing the same in May.
Ms. Bowser tried to limit the scope of her request this time around, asking for a 90-day National Guard deployment followed by a review — as opposed to the open-ended deployment she requested in last month’s letter to the DOD.
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She also argued for using federal facilities to receive the migrants since they are only in the District for three days before being moved to a permanent location.
Still, the Pentagon didn’t budge.
Federal officials said that using the National Guard for this purpose would affect the unit’s readiness. They also said that the D.C. Armory lacks air-conditioning, among other things, making it an unsuitable site to temporarily house people.
“We are going to move forward with our planning to ensure that when people are coming through DC on their way to their final destination that we have a humane setting for them.” Ms. Bowser wrote on Twitter.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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