According to a recent report, the Biden administration is flying illegal immigrant children to Chattanooga, Tennessee, whereupon they are dispatched to cities across the Southeastern United States. Some of the flights have reportedly arrived in the middle of the night. That news has prompted Tennessee legislators, including both of the state’s U.S. senators and its governor, to express outrage at the federal government.
“Channel 3 obtained video of one of those planes arriving Friday, May 14 shortly before 1:30 a.m.,” WRCB reported. “A second video, shared with Channel 3, shows more children arriving late Saturday night. According to the source who provided the video, a third plane carrying children arrived Friday afternoon. Flight records confirm that a fourth plane arrived early Wednesday morning, May 19.”
WRCB stated that the children who arrived in Chattanooga boarded buses directly on the runway. Two of the buses are reportedly owned by Coast to Coast Tours of East Point, Georgia. A Coast-to-Coast employee told WRCB that the company had a contract with the United States Department of Defense and had previously traveled to Mobile, Alabama, and Atlanta, Georgia, to transport children. The employee said the two Coast-to-Coast buses were headed for Miami, Florida, and Dallas, Texas.
WRCB reported that Knoxville Tours, Little Rock Tours, and Malone Bussing Services assisted in the effort at the airport. One source told WRCB that the operation began in Dallas, but was moved to smaller airports in order to avoid being noticed.
LTC Chris Mitchell, a Department of Defense spokesperson, told WRCB, “From what I can tell, these were flights facilitated by HHS. The only support DoD is providing with respect to the unaccompanied minors is land and facilities for HHS to temporarily house them.”
Third District Congressman Chuck Fleischmann claimed, “There has been no indication that the time of day for the arrival of these migrant children is related to anything more than the processing time at the original point of entry border station, confirmation of available shelter, and the availability of the sufficient transports.”
But U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty countered, “It is time for President Biden to be transparent with Tennesseans and the American people regarding where the hundreds of thousands of migrants being resettled in the United States are being sent because they deserve to know.”
Hagerty told Fox News, “I have warned for months that President Biden’s failure at the border would result in a systematic resettling of migrants in our communities, burdening our schools, hospitals, and law enforcement agencies, and bringing an increase in drug trafficking and human smuggling. A new reality is happening in our country — every town is now a border town.”
U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn echoed, “Our office has received no information from the Biden Administration informing us of a mass transportation of migrants to Tennessee is absolutely unacceptable if the Biden Administration is facilitating a mass migration without any input or oversight from Tennesseans and the affected communities.”
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee stated, “The Biden Administration refuses to secure the border and is instead scattering unaccompanied kids all over the country with no regard for the consequences. When we push back and demand answers, they cut off transparency and embolden one of the worst human trafficking crises we’ve seen at our border in the last 20 years.”