North Carolina officials are working with the Biden administration to help residents affected by Hurricane Helene to move into a legally contracted college campus that has sat vacant after being paid for to home alone immigrant children who cross the southwestern border.
Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC), who represents Greensboro, confirmed in a statement from her office on Wednesday that FEMA was “finalizing ” the agreement with HHS to “transfer control ” of the facility.
My statement on the latest updates regarding the Greensboro Influx Care facility ⬇ ️ pic. tweets. com/M61rbRuy8g— Congresswoman Kathy Manning ( @RepKManning ) October 9, 2024
Former Rep. Mark Walker, a Republican who represented Greensboro, applauded the walk following his calling last week for Manning and the federal government to use the empty school, which can hold around 1,000 people.
“ I am delighted that DHHS appears to be working with FEMA. We need to move then to help aid these displaced children and families from the wind, ” Walker, then the Republican National Committee’s trust referral director, wrote in a text to the Washington Examiner on Wednesday. “North Carolina takes care of our possess, we just need the doors opened. ”
Hurricane Helene was the most dangerous island storms to hit the United States since Katrina in 2005. It made land on Sept. 26 in Florida’s Big Bend area as a Category 4 storms and then moved north through Georgia and western North Carolina.
The place surrounding Asheville was inundated with flood waters from the surrounding hills and hit by winds of up to 100 miles per hour. Helene’s death burden is at least 230 individuals.
Walker had called for FEMA to inquire about the area in Greensboro next year.
“ Hey @FEMA, 800 beds in Greensboro are available. The U. S. Govt. has a$ 50 million lease and it ’s currently unoccupied, ” Walker wrote in a post to X on Oct. 3. “ While the core is waiting to home apprehended illegals, maybe you could take care of our own northern North Carolinians second. ”
Progress! @fema has taken over the Greensboro Influx Center and plans to utilize for displaced survivors in Western North Carolina. Sometimes we start with broken children’s houses in WNC. Thank you to @RepKManning for connecting with me responding to my request and appreciate her … https ://t. co/r6w2xCpZ3a— Mark Walker ( @RepMarkWalker ) October 9, 2024
FEMA said in a speech on Oct. 3 that it would “soon sign an agreement” with HHS to move the ability to FEMA briefly but would not comment Wednesday about whether the agreement had been signed or when displaced North Carolina people would be able to use and walk in.
The Washington Examiner reported in May 2021 of the Biden administration ’s plans to use the school campus to house 1,100 children between the ages of 13 and 17. No children have been moved into the facilities since then, but the HHS has kept up a five-year contract in case the number of children coming across the southern border suddenly rises, as it did in 2021.
The Biden administration paid a for-profit company$ 177 million to care for and detain the children while sponsors within the country could be found with whom to place the children permanently.
The 100-acre Hebrew school campus opened in 2001 to educate Jewish high school students. It ceased operations in 2019. Its campus includes 16 dormitory buildings, 35 residential staff apartments, and an$ 18 million athletic center that features rock climbing walls, basketball courts, and an eight-lane swimming pool.
Children who come across the border illegally after being smuggled by cartels are taken into custody by the U. S. Border Patrol, which can only hold them in custody for up to three days in an effort to ensure they are turned over to more suitable caretakers. HHS’s Administration for Children and Families ’ Office of Refugee Resettlement arm is responsible for caring for children after Border Patrol.
Manning said she was working with others to help North Carolina.
“ I am fully committed to mobilizing resources swiftly and ensuring they reach all those impacted by this unprecedented storm, ” Manning said.
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Walker said Greensboro and Guilford County would be ready to assist the North Carolinians who move in and may need help from the community.
“There are dozens of churches and nonprofits on standby ready to serve these families on everything from student tutoring to healthcare, ” Walker said.
