NASA employees reportedly asked to volunteer to work with unaccompanied migrant children
Customs and Border Protection encountered more than 100,000 migrants in February
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Biden administration asked NASA employees Tuesday if they would volunteer to help at overcrowded border facilities amid a surging migrant crisis that has overcrowded detention facilities with unaccompanied minors.
"This opportunity provides a continuum of care for children, including placements in foster care, shelter, and residential care providers that provide temporary housing and to assist with caring for and placing children without legal immigration status who have entered the country at the southern border without a parent or legal guardian," an email sent to NASA workers reads.
The Intercept’s Ken Klippenstein first shared a screenshot of the email Tuesday afternoon. It appears similar to previous appeals sent out to other agencies’ federal employees from the Department of Health and Human Services.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The HHS is asking for volunteers to apply for a 120-day deployment detail that would send them to the Southwest border to provide direct support for the care of detained migrant children and or to act as interpreters if they have the required language proficiency.
HHS ASKS FREDERAL EMPLOYEES TO VOLUNTEER TO HELP WITH CHILD MIGRANT SURGE
Young minors lie inside a pod at the Donna Department of Homeland Security holding facility, the main detention center for unaccompanied children in the Rio Grande Valley run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Donna, Texas. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills,Pool)
The reimbursable detail includes travel, lodging and per diem expenses.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NASA and HHS did not immediately respond to Fox News requests for comment.
The call for help comes as the Biden administration is struggling with an influx of migrants – unaccompanied minors in particular – across the border.
DHS CHIEF REQUESTS VOLUNTEERS TO HELP AT SOUTHERN BORDER AMID 'OVERWHELMING' MIGRANT SURGE
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Customs and Border Protection encountered more than 100,000 migrants in February, and there are currently more than 5,000 migrants in CBP custody and more than 11,000 in HHS custody.
CBP is opening multiple new facilities, including two in Carrizo Springs, Texas and another in San Diego, while also looking at military bases in Texas to house migrant children as it struggles to get enough beds for them. And the Biden administration had floated the idea of using NASA facilities to house some of the influx as well.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Critics have blamed Biden for the crisis – noting his decision to end Trump-era border policies and his proposal to create a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration is blaming former President Trump.
Biden’s Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned last month that the border could see more migrants than at any time in the last 20 years.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But Biden later downplayed those concerns and said it is normal to see a surge in migrants between January and March.
Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report.