Pentagon approves request to identify locations to house migrant children

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has approved a request to identify locations to potentially house up to 5,000 unaccompanied migrant children if asked, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.

In March, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) requested Pentagon support to identify locations to house unaccompanied migrant children through September 30.

Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jamie Davis told Reuters that Shanahan had approved that request on Tuesday. Davis added that HHS had made no request to actually house the children.