Pentagon Approves Request to House Unaccompanied Minors at Texas Military Facilities

Illegal immigrants, most from Honduras, walk toward a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint after crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico near Mission, Texas, on March 23, 2021. John Moore/Getty Images

The Pentagon on Wednesday approved a request for assistance from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to temporarily house unaccompanied minors at two Texas military facilities.

John Kirby, Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement that the department will temporarily house unaccompanied children who cross into the United States illegally at a vacant dormitory at Joint Base San Antonio in Lackland. The department has also approved a plant to construct a temporary housing facility at Fort Bliss.