DILLEY, Texas – Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson toured housing for oilfield workers Monday that will have mostly Central American women and children moving in by the end of December.
They will live there for 45 days while modular housing is completed over the 50-acre site off Highway 85.
By May, phase two will have 2,400 family members, the largest in the nation.
The Family Residential Center will be operated by Corrections Corporation of America, contracted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"We've got to pay for it somehow," said Johnson of the facility, other border initiatives and the agency itself.
The Department of Homeland Security was only partially funded through the end of February in the trillion dollar budget Congress sent President Obama.
"Operating on a continuing resolution is not optimal," Johnson said.
Observers point to Republican opposition to the president's executive action on immigration.
"We need Congress to authorize and appropriate money to pay for all the things I know they want us to do," Johnson said.
The secretary called on Congress to fully fund border security to the tune of $800 million.
Officials during the secretary's tour said it's estimated the daily cost per resident in Dilley will be nearly $300 for housing, food, medical care and on-site schooling.
Families will be detained until they bond out, are deported or granted asylum.
Johnson said illegal crossings have fallen off to the lowest point in two years, but the facility in Dilley should help discourage others from entering the U.S.
