Judicial Watch revealed Wednesday “basic shelter care” for 2,400 illegal alien minors through Baptist Children and Family Services over the course of four months in 2014 cost taxpayers more than $183 million. Assuming the same “rudimentary” care was given to all 65,000 unaccompanied minors for 120 days, the total cost would stretch past $5 billion in taxpayer money directed toward the minors.
While that $5 billion figure is technically impossible to prove because of the lack of disclosure from the government of how long each individual remained in HHS care, it is equally as difficult to prove otherwise.
According to the FOIA results from the August 1 request, funds were spent on overpriced and elaborate items, including expensive shower stalls and cable television. Divide $183 million between the 2,400 kids and it comes out to a monthly cost of more than $19,000 per person. Compare that to the per capita annual spending on health care for kids in the U.S. in 2010 was $2,123. Per capita annual spending on K-12 education in 2010 was $12,608. The numbers simply do not add up.
Consider what the FOIA request discovered:
- “Summary Budget by Objective Class … 1200 Emergency Surge Beds, June 12, 2014 – October 18, 2014” – $104,215,608
- “BCFS HHS proposed to operate a team of highly qualified professionals as outlined below … Incident Management Team … comprised of 30 members … for a 120 day event” – $2,648,800.
- “[H]otel accommodations 822 staff x $125 hotel rate per night divided by 2 (two staff per room, will share) plus 20 individual rooms will be added –$6,765,000”
- “Food will be provided by a local catering service at $75 per day for 3 meals and 2 snacks. The meal plan is estimated to provide 1200 UACs and 822 staff at a minimum: $75 x 2022 individuals (staff + youth) x 120 days – $18,198,000” [EDITOR’S NOTE: According to the USDA, the cost to feed a teenager per week in the U.S. is roughly $71.70 – or approximately $10 per day.]
- “Medical supply expenses include the cost of first aid kits, latex gloves, lice shampoo, pregnancy and urine tests … Total medical service and supply reimbursement is requested in the amount of $1,120,400.”
- “Recreational items will include board games, soccer balls, basket balls, jump ropes, bracelet making kits, yarn, puzzles, arts and crafts, decks of cards, and eye-hand coordination game sets. Reimbursement is requested for $180,000.”
- “Educational items will include … tempera paint, paint markers, paint brushes, easel brushes, art paper … Crayons, multicultural crayons … for $180,000.”
- “Laptop Kits … 100 Kits … 5 Laptops per kit – $500 per kit … $200,000”
- “VOIP Phone Kits … 80 kits … 10 cell phones per kit with International call capabilities and radio … $160,000”
The BCFS application for the Lackland AFB facility includes the following in addition to many of the above:
- “Summary Budget by Object Class … 1200 Emergency Surge Beds, May 18, 2014 – September 18, 2014” – $77,914,178
- “Utility expenses will include cable television (video screen/projector set up – due to the large dormitory set and configuration to ensure large group seatings can view movies, sports, etc.) and is estimated at $5,000 per a month x 4 months – $20,000.”
- “In addition, contact with family members is imperative and part of BCFS’s daily programing in which each client is affording the opportunity to call their families twice every week … 1200 UACs x 2 calls x 20 minutes – 48,000 minutes a week x .75 x 16 weeks – $576,000.”
- “Shower Stalls … Additional show heads required … 20 stalls at $1,000 a piece … $80,000.” [EDITOR’S NOTE: Shower stalls at Home Depot can be purchased for as low as $163.71.]
The government may have vastly overpaid for these basic items; therefore, the American people need accountability and answers for how the government spent the people’s money.
12 Comments
Gee I wonder where the money went? Oh an election was coming up. have to get them votes out
If FAIR wanted to do something very useful and attention getting for the illegal immigration problem, how about organizing a large public demonstration AGAINST illegal immigration in Washington D.C.? Sure you’d get big turnout and would get attention of Congress.
And if big enough, even the way Lefty national news orgs. can’t ignore it!
Of course they did– is there anyone in their right mind who trusts the Obama administration, esp.on immigration?
But the real question is: How the Republicans (or anyone else) can stop this worst of all Presidents, from singlehandedly and fundamentally transforming this country in HIS OWN VISION, in a way that won’t be reversible>
We need more of these public demonstrations esp. in Washingtono DC. Certainly plenty of demonstratons from the illegal aliens–only in America! Instead of arresting and deporting them as any other country would do, we enable them!
The biggest question of all is: Who do most (inattentive) Americans think is going to pay the colossal resulting bill from housing, feeding, educating, healthcare, welfare, etc., etc., for 15 million mostly poor and uneducated illegals?
Wake up America before it’s too late.
I believe very little of what government scientists tell us and the so-called “1200 year drought” is another one. Tree rings? Really? Show us. There is a water shortage caused by 38+ million people competing with farmers for water. Nobody is addressing the cause of the problem. They don’t talk about carrying capacity and overpopulation, they just try to figure out how millions of people and acres of farmland can make do without much water. Where are the scientists that are talking about that? I know they are out there, but sadly are not on the government payroll. The government only pays scientists who will count tree rings (allegedly) to blame global warming or drought for the problem caused by too many people competing for finite resources.
Taxpayer expenditure included services at a beauty salon, maybe more than one!! Just what we need – illegal immigrants making themselves more attractive to men so they can more quickly have babies here, who will automatically be U.S. citizens and anchor the whole family from the home country.
This amount of money going to a Baptist church organization might explain why the Baptist church and other religious organizations have become anti-borders advocates.
Our brain dead government, at it’s worst, period!
Looks like maybe someone is skimming a little off from the top. 75 cents a minute for phone calls to family? Even if it was to Central American countries there are calling cards available all over this country that charge 15 cents or less. Hard to believe that American taxpayers had to pay 576,000 dollars for phone calls. And 75 dollars a day for 3 meals and a snack? You can get individual home delivery of meals for less than that, much less some mass produced meals.
And CNN was just running a header on a “report” about the “record” number of deportations under this president, supposedly two million. In spite of the fact that his own officials have said if you don’t commit a major crime, the chances you will be deported is zero. But as we know, the president himself called those figures ” a little deceptive” over three years ago to a group of Hispanic journalists. His exact words:
“Secondly the statistics are actually a little deceptive because what we’ve been doing is with the stronger border enforcement, we’ve been apprehending folks at the border and sending them back. That is counted as a deportation even though they may have only been held for a day or 48 hours, that’s counted as a deportation.”
So how is it that a “news” organization keeps running a story line that is by his own words “deceptive”. It’s counting those turned around at the border, which were NEVER counted before. Of course, this same “news” organization just spent three months running with the “hands up don’t shoot” narrative, which did not occur and was only the initial claims of several witnesses who changed who changed their stories before the grand jury.
We Have 1,258,152 Homeless Student Minors in America
There’s no money to help them, yet we bend over backward to help illegal foreign minors invading our countrry?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/23/homeless-students_n_5864414.html
I’d Add Too
Why is the Biggest Sanctuary State in the Union, California, So Intent on Increasing Overpopulation Immigration?
When the state has no water for stagnant population growth, let alone growth period.
“….This week’s statewide rains have made little impact in relieving California’s extreme drought. In fact, according to a new scientific study, this drought is the worst that California has experienced in 1200 years. Researchers studying tree rings concluded that “the current event is the most severe drought in the last 1200 years, with single year (2014) and accumulated moisture deficits worse than any previous continuous span of dry years.”…”
http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-California/2014/12/05/Study-California-Drought-Worst-in-1200-Years
The public schools lack math and science ability, and this is a good example of the brainless open border politics without math and science.
Huffington Post has been running a headline story about that 1200 year drought in California. But do you think they would change their position on supporting even more immigration, which would bring more millions to that state? No way. Obviously political correctness and ethnic pandering outweighs common sense in this country.
Excellent post. Have you noticed how almost NOONE in “mainstream” media is addressing the incredible costs of supporting millions of illegals and their many children? This will be economic suicide for America.