It was only a matter of time before some of the thousands of undocumented children flooding the United States border reached Virginia. But the organization that is housing those children was founded by a man familiar to virtually everyone in the Washington, D.C., area.
Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart, R-Woodbridge, confirmed via social media and his office that Youth For Tomorrow , a Vienna, Va.-based nonprofit founded by former Washington Redskins Coach Joe Gibbs, is contracting with the feds to house undocumented minors at its facility in Bristow, Va.
Watchdog.org called Youth For Tomorrow, which offered a number that connected to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. When Watchdog.org called the organization again, Youth For Tomorrow said it’s making “no comment” at this time. Vienna is in Fairfax County, but Bristow is in Prince William County, where Stewart serves.
Stewart, a longtime opponent of illegal immigration, said the feds had not contacted the county and that he learned of the housing situation from a Youth for Tomorrow employee.
“The crisis at the border has again reached Prince William County,” Stewart said in his statement. “While it may seem cold-hearted, it is important that these children be sent back home since letting them stay simply entices even more children to attempt the long and dangerous journey to the United States.”
Last week, Stewart and his colleagues voted to use the Freedom of Information Act to request information about the whereabouts of the roughly 7,000 illegal immigrants who have been arrested for a crime in the county since 2008, and been handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
The Prince William County Board of Supervisors is using part of its regular meeting Tuesday to figure out what to do next.
Federal officials several weeks ago considered housing immigrant children at St. Paul’s College in Lawrenceville, Va., several weeks ago but backed off after public outcry.
