Should your state take in and you companied minors . Democrats, 202 5853880, republicans 202 5853881, and independents, all others, 202 5853882. Join us on social media, or facebook. Com cspan. You can send us an email. Well get to your thoughts in a minute. Joining us on the phone is manwel. This story in the newspaper this morning, flood of migrants leaves officials in a bind. What is the federal government asking of states . Well, theyre looking for locations to place shelters where unaccompanied minors would be transported and held for a period of time while they are looking for their family members and putting them into the process in which they would either be be deported or allowed to stay in the country. Who is doing the asking from the federal government, and why . So theres a real alphabet soup of agencies that are involved in when a migrant is apprehended theyre caught by the Border Patrol. Theyre handed over to the immigration and customs enforcement. But then when minors are involved, theyre required to be turned over to health and Human Services, which has specific office for refugees that is required to take care of those kids. Host why cant the states along the borders shelter these children . Dont these agencies have facilities along the border for this type of situation . They say they dont. They have facilities that are designed for very shortterm holding of people who have been detained, and they the government says that they dont have enough bed space for this big surge of unaccompanied children that has been taking place over the last few months. And that has created a very complicated, logistical challenge for the government because if you cannot house the kids in texas where theyre being apprehended, you have to put them on the buses and planes and take them to other parts of the country. Host and what type of facilities are states do states have . Where are they looking to put these minors in states across the country . And for how long . Well, this is interesting, because you really dont have to look at the border right now as a line that separates mexico from a few states like texas and arizona. Really the border right now is the entire country, and that is where the federal government is looking to house these kids, all over the country. They have spoken to the governor in vermont, for instance, asking for a facility to hold 1,000 people. Its pointed out in our story the deputy chief of staff for the governor of vermont, we dont have any place like that for you. They reached out to massachusetts. States throughout the country are being asked to find locations for these kids and the challenges that in a lot of places has a tremendous amount of resistance to that taking place. Host how long would the children be staying in these states and would they be going to school . Would they be using other resources for state residents . We think they are not set up as schools, and the length of stay would vary depending on how long it takes to either reunite them with families or get them into the legal system. Mostly these children when they get across the border are immediately given a notice to appear in court, at which point they would have to make their case for staying and that process can take a long time. These facilities are not designed to hold kids for very long periods of time. The numbers vary depending on flow, but this is designed to be shortterm stays of weeks, not months or years. Host so who will be footing the bill for this . Primarily the federal government that is responsible for housing the kids and feeding them and transporting them, but when you talk to local officials they worry that theyre going to end up absorbing costs, too. And theres certainly a bit of fear and if you wanted to use a word loathing in certain parts of the country about these kids. A good example is a place in new mexico called artesia where they have a facility that has been used to train federal Law Enforcement officials. Word spread that they were going to be bringing migrants to that facility, and the people in the town were very upset and worried about a whole laundry list of things. And among those things that they were worried about were an increase in crime, disease, they were concerned that the migrants were going to be bringing diseases into the community that didnt exist there. And then they were also worried about a population surge. In other words, they were concerned that the migrants were going to be placed inside that facility and then released into their community. They were assured by the government that that was not going to take place, and as it turned out that facility ended up not holding and you companied minors but mothers with their children. And thats kind of another aspect of this whole crisis. Everyone has been talking about the unaccompanied minors and for good reasons. Its such an unusual surge of kids. But at the same time, there are lots of kids who are canning over with their mothers. And the challenges of holding them are not dissimilar to the challenges of dealing with the unaccompanied minors. Host what is what age of child are we talking about . How old are they . Oh, goodness, ive speaken to people who have been into the facilities and seen children as young as eight months with their mothers. Pregnant women have pregnant minors have come in and had babies, so 14 and 15 and 16 and 17yearold girls have come in and had babies while in that care. It runs the gamut from six and 7yearolds up to people who are maybe 16, 17, and a question of whether they actually are minors or not. Host okay. A lot of these kids dont have paperwork. So in some instances it can be hard to determine who belongs with whom, for instance. Advocates its a complicated situation, a woman who has a different last name from the child who she is showing up with has been separated from that child, because there is a very acute fear of Human Trafficking on the border, and thats a very serious problem. And so the authorities are careful about making sure that if theres a young person coming in, that they actually are coming in with a relative and not someone who is trying to exploit them. Its not a simple situation to deal with. Host manwell roigfranzia, you said there are women that are coming across that are pregnant and theyre having their babies here. What perjuries that . And if the kids are born here are they sent back or are they u. S. Citizens . We dont have numbers on that particular phenomenon. In general, in a child who is born in the United States they are a u. S. Citizen. When i was a Mexico Bureau chief for the post, who it wasnt uncommon for us to talk to people who drove to the United States or take a train to the United States to have their baby so that child would be assured american citizenship, one of the most famous instances of that is bill richardson, the former governor of new mexico, and one time considered to be a president ial candidate. Even though he had a parent who was an american citizen, they still went up to the units states, his mother is mexican, and had the baby in the United States to assure that there will be no doubt he was an american citizen. Whether that rule applies when the child is born when the mother is in custody, its not a question that i have a definitive answer for. Host manuel roigfranzia is the stand writer for the Washington Post. What are you watching for next on this story . Well, were going to have to see which of these states agree to put large facilities in their states. There are small sheltered scattered all around the country that are run by not for profits who do take children, and thats much less controversial because the numbers are much smaller. But it will be interesting to see whether any of these states say okay, well do that. Host manuel roigfranzia, we appreciate your time. Let me turn to all of you to get your thoughts. Should your state take in these unaccompanied minors . Scotty in boca a ton, florida, youre up first. Go ahead. Caller i dont think anybody wants nobody to come here in more. Weve been totally overwhelmed. Any american that is for this, you show me one. Theres not none of them. They would be ashamed to show their face. Nobody wants this no more. Weve had enough. Thats the bottom host there is lots of religious well, well move on to betty in iowa city, republican caller. Go ahead. Caller i would like clarification. I think its very possible lawsuits could be file against the people that are holding these children, i dont know, inside the United States because they could as well be sent back to the embassies and held there and processed there. Im sure the that arrangements could be made with the host like honduras dower as, el salvador, to enlarge the capacities of the embassies, because why they cant be processed there, i mean the judges could take vacations in honduras, el salvador, just, as well as any place else. And they could process people. Theres no i just dont understand why it has to be done here inside of the states, whether its thousands or tens, it doesnt make sense. So the law is either being abused or it was unbelievably irrationally written. I host youre talking about that 2008 law . Caller well, that was the third extension, wasnt it, of the law that was passed by clinton in the last one of the last couple months before he left office . It was a trafficking law. Host right. Caller thats what theyre they extended it four times. The last time joe biden ushered it through in 2013. Thats when he added abused women to it. But yes, the fact that these children were added in 2008, that law was started under clinton. Host just rereminder 2008 seems to be the point of contention between republicans in the house and democrats, was republicans want to make it revise this law, make it easier, faster to send these children back to Central America. Democrats at first appeared to be willing, according to republicans, to alter the law, and now they say no. Take a look at the 2008 trafficking victims protection act. Protect children from entering nonborderring countries, require children be given opportunity to appear at an immigration hearing and to consult with an advocate and counsel and requires children to be turned over to health and Human Services agencies. So once they are apprehended, they are turned over then to hhs. Look at the New York Times this morning, michael paulson, u. S. Religious leaders embrace the cause of children streaming across the border. Bus loads of immigrant mothers and childrens, Roman Catholic archbishop of new york, drafted a blog post detailing his shame at the episode, writing it was unamerican. It was unbiblical. It was unhumane. When the governor of iowa said he didnt want the migrants in his state declaring we cant accept every child in the world who has problems, clergy members in today main held a prayer vigil to demonstrate their desire to make room for the refugees. Were talking about whether were going to stand at the border and tell children who are fleeinflee fleeing a burning bug to go back. He said leaders of more than 100 faith organizations met last week to discuss how to help. He said that his own congregation, some were comparing the flow of immigrant children to the dinner transport, a rescue mission in the late 1930s that sent children to britain for safe keeping. How do we want to be remember, as yelling and screaming to go back, or using the teachings of our tradition to have compassion, love and grace for the lives of gods children. What do you think, what your governor said and how some of the religious leaders in your state responded . Caller i think Terry Bransted is right on. He knows the spirit of what is going on. Nobody is being deported. If they are sent to a legitimate u. S. Embassy. Host got your point. Well move on well move to peggy. Democratic caller. Youre on the air. Caller hi. I dont agree that these states should be taking any immigrants. Its been going on for years and years in this country. Host the number of the influx of minors has increased in the past three years to the point where the border agencies are saying they just dont have the capacity at the border to house these children while they put them in the process for due process and deportation. Caller well, theyre coming into this country illegally. They should be treated as such. They are considered under u. S. Law also to be unless its a criminal act, for them to be put over here, sent over here. And just the idea that their parents would actually allow their children to come across over here unsupervised, what does that say about their parents . Host donald in tennessee, republican caller, hi, donald. Caller hello. Host what do you think, donald, this morning . Caller im thinking that our state is not really in a position to take on an influx of children, adults or any other form of illegal aliens. Host why not, donald . Whats the situation like in tennessee . Caller the situation in tennessee, especially in my particular area of tennessee, were very poor, to be perfectly honest. We have a hard enough time paying for our own poor people, and its just well, you know, its kind of wrong, you know, like the last caller said, you know, theyre coming in here illegally. Theyre not coming through the proper channels. Im all for immigration, but i am not for illegal immigration in any stretch of the imagination. Host okay. All right. Caller youre not supposed to come to our country with your hand out for freebies and thats exactly what were seeing. Host charles in georgia, independent caller, what do you think . Caller thanks for taking my call. I think everybody who wants to welcome these illegals into the country should be willing to take them into their own homes. I was born in miami, florida, and being a native there ive seen the things we moved way from many years ago. When i go back to my neighborhood im like a foreigner there now. Everybody speaks spanish or some other language. Thats the future of the United States. We welcome people very generously, and they return and they return our welcome by trying to take over everything and make everything in their own image and draining our resources here. We just cant take care of the entire world. Host suring are land texas, democratic caller, artis whats it like in suring are land texas . Where is that . Caller right outside of houston. Host okay. Caller what i called about, to say this to all of my christian friends out there who are talking about what makes these mothers send their children on this long journey . And they do not realize in theyre own bible that moses mother put him in the river nile full of crocodiles. We need to make sure we Pay Attention to that. Host you think this is about christianity, about morality . Caller i think us being christians we should realize and stop saying statements like that. They have to ask those mothers why they sent those children, ask why most essent his children to the river nile. Host what do you think, ian . Caller i think no one can afford this, this is the issue, that the mothers will follow. Theyre uneducate ited. Theyre going to have to get to work for some job. They dont have it to teach english, you know, just the influx of these kids with all the diseases and everything, the states dont have it. They just dont have it. And we got American Kids starving, so we got to take care of our priorities first. Theres kids all over the world starving, and its a sad thing. The republicans dont push old ladies off on wheelchairs and grandmothers, we have hearts but we have to have brains. Host can i bounce this off you . This 40s sir a cue from new jersey. Who pay for the immigrants . S . It says in q a here how many children come to syracuse . Theyre looking at 100 to 200. They would stay less than 35 days, thats the average. The children can be any age up to 17, and 2013, 24 of the unaccompanied minors were under the ill an of 14. In the countries theyre coming from, large percentage from guatemala, children also coming from el salvador, mexico. Will the kids attend school . No. All of their activities will be on the grounds of the Maria Regina College campus. That includes Outdoor Education and any recreation. They would leave the campus for deportation proceedings, which would be in u. S. Immigration court in buffalo. Who pays for this . The federal government pays for everything. There is no local or state share. After reading that, hearing that, does it change your mind at all . Caller between the nsa, the ris, fast and four yous, benghazi, who believes the government when they speak right now, the federal government . The money doesnt grow on trees. This has to come from somewhere, and that happens to be taxpayers. And theres a major problem with it. Its very inhumane, as far as im concerned. These kids these their parents. So. Host host some of these kids will be coming with their mothers and saying at these facilities. Caller what about the nigerians, about all the kids in africa . Where does it stop . Host got your point. Marry and in pittsburgh, pennsylvania, independent caller. Caller hi. I think the children should be taken back. Host okay. Why do you think that . Caller because we cannot afford it. These border states, my sister lives in texas, and she says its terrible. She said its terrible, the living conditions, the way these kids are spreading lice and diseases that we eradicated years ago, and i think its not right. We cant afford to take care of our own children that are 41 million in foster care, i believe. Im a social worker. Host okay. Lets go to charged in chicago, democratic caller. Charles, what do you think this morning . Caller yes. In my respect, as far as helping the kids out, i think its okay helping the kids, but if theyre doing it the right way. As i scan through watching the news, i saw both on two different news channels, and i was waiting for another, but some agents have come out going through the Border Patrol reps saying how they have been held back from stopping them from coming across. But i dont think that we should be allowing them to come across as they are now, but to be turned around and a lot of kids and there are some pictures, where bus loads have been dropped off and they have it where theres five kids and 30 adults on a bus because they are coming in groups. Host okay. All right. Die and, up in new york, republican caller, where is that located, stock hold . Caller good morning. Its at the eastern end of long island. Its beautiful out here. And, of course, you know we have records, and theyre lovely people. Really, im sad about it. Im