Feds fly immigrant minors to Hawaii on taxpayer dime
By Malia Zimmerman / July 31, 2014
By Malia Zimmerman | Watchdog.org
HONOLULU — Although 2,500 miles from the continental United States, Hawaii has joined the list of states temporarily housing unaccompanied minors from Central America who have illegally crossed into America through the Southwest border.
Who’s paying the freight? You, the taxpayer.
Some 60,000 Central American youths fleeing their home countries have come to the United States in the past few months. That number could reach 90,000 by the end of the year. Politicians, border agents and social service workers call the migration a “humanitarian crisis.”
Kenneth Wolfe, a spokesman the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, told Watchdog.org that “between January 1 and July 7, a total of eight minors were discharged from the unaccompanied alien children program to sponsors in Hawaii.”
Wolfe couldn’t offer any details on the ages and countries of origin of the children, where the children are now living, or who is sponsoring them in Hawaii. However, he added the sponsors are “mostly family members of the child. In fact, more than half are parents of the minor.”
Federal taxpayers cover the cost of transportation and housing for the refugee children, including airfare to Hawaii, Wolfe said.
Former U.S. Rep. Charles Djou, R-Hawaii, said while he feels for the children and is sympathetic to their plight, he doesn’t believe taxpayers should be covering their airline tickets to Hawaii.