Perry: Obama Admin Knew About Children Illegals Two Years Ago

Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) stated that the Obama administration knew about influxes of illegal immigrant children at the southern border back in 2012, but chose not to act in an interview that took place on today’s “Sean Hannity Show.”  

Perry said “we wrote the president on May 4, 2012 saying ‘Mr. President, we have a huge problem on our southern border with these children who are coming into the country, they are being basically released’ and this administration has ignored it.” He added that the area was now more vulnerable to natural disasters because Texas often serves as a place for evacuees in the region such as the massive numbers of individuals who fled Louisiana for Texas as a result of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.  Perry stated “we don’t have that room available now, Sean, because this federal government is not protecting and defending our border, not sending these young people back to the places they came from.”

Perry’s letter to the president from May 4, 2012 referred to “a surge of unaccompanied illegal minors entering the United States,” and argued that “by failing to take immediate action to return these minors to their countries of origin and prevent and discourage others from coming here, the federal government is perpetuating the problem.”  The letter states that over 5,200 unaccompanied minors crossed the border within the first six months of the fiscal year 2012. Disease outbreaks are also mentioned, Perry wrote “Recently, dozens of these minors have had to be quarantined due to a measles scare and an outbreak of chicken pox, providing a warning of the additional risks this situation poses.”