EAGLE LAKE — Endeavors waded into a hostile environment to pitch its migrant facility at a town hall meeting pn Jan. 17, at the Eagle Lake Community Center. Out of the 3,400 citizens of Eagle Lake, approximately 65 people attended.
Several Eagle Lake non-residents participated as well. Eagle Lake Mayor Tim Kelley acted as moderator for the event.
Endeavors President and Chief Oper- ating Officer Chip Fulghum and Chief Communications Officer Kim Harle Solis provided a presentation during the first half of the meeting. In the presenta - tion, Fulghum stated that the Endeavors facility would house 60 illegal immigrant boys aged 13-17 for an average of 35 days before unification with relatives, or they age out and are sent elsewhere.
The staff-to-immigrant ratio is one to eight during the day and one to 16 during the night. These ratios, he added, are de- termined by the Office of Refugee and Resettlement. There will be 24-hour surveillance with a high fence and cameras monitoring the facility with contract security.
Medical and mental health personnel will be on-site and each immigrant will receive at least six hours of education from in-house certified teachers. As a way to give back to the community, Endeavors is in discussions with the Whar- ton County Junior College Foundation regarding how it can support Colorado County residents seeking to further their education.
Jobs will be filled by local people if their skill sets match what Endeavors is seeking. A job fair is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 27 with location to be deter mined. All interested persons may apply at endeavors.org/careers/.
An early March opening is expected, with the facility taking in juvenile immigrants this summer and will run on a three-year federal government contract at $8.5 million a year for operating expenses. During the question and answer period, Mayor Kelley had to steer comments back to the Endeavors facilities as some questions centered on federal laws and actions. Rice Medical Hospital CEO Kurt Sunderman expressed concerns
about a possible influx of patients to the emergency room. He said the facil ity can’t handle hundreds of thousand’s coming through the facility. Sunderman also expressed health safety concerns.
Fulghum responded that the rate of kids going to the ER is extremely low, that any health information could be shared, and that Endeavors will work with the hospital.
In response to the medical expense, he told Sunderman that the government has insurance to cover medical costs. There was no clear response regarding what type of insurance, such as Medicare, will pay the medical bills.
Safety and security concerns were on most people’s minds. The wrought iron fence around the property is not a security fence to keep in escaping juveniles.
The facility is adjacent to a residential area, an elementary school and the hos- pital. Fulghum said he would look into the security issue.
Fulghum said, "The safety and well-being of the community, our employees, and every child we serve, is of utmost importance. While we already have extensive safeguards in place, Endeavors routinely conducts security assessments of all our facilities and we will be having a third-party security firm conduct a similar assessment of the Eagle Lake group home and provide any recommendations for improvement prior to opening.” Republican Precinct Chair Bobbie Gus tus, summed up the mood of the town hall meeting by giving this statement, "My name is Bobbie Gustus. I am a Republican precinct chair in Colorado County, and I am here to speak on be half of the constituents in my community, whose voices should be heard, as well as speak out of my own concerns. I ap preciate portions of your cause and your being here, allowing us to speak openly.
Transparency is key. I hope you are will ing to actually hear us as we express our concerns.
While I recognize that Texas has be come a hotspot for businesses, it would behoove you to consider our stance and the values of the communities that you are impacting.
For example, 80 jobs are not comparable considering you are bringing in the very thing we aim to protect our community from.
The border invasion and all the crime that comes with it.
My heart hurts for these children, but we must protect our own first. Frankly, statistics prove unaccompanied illegal immigrant boys are in danger of exploitation if not already owned by the cartel. Of course, we wish the best for these children, but we must protect American citizens first and foremost. That is our tax dollars and they should be working to protect us. That latter part - cartel, is especially concerning for our children and grandchil- dren. Drugs, human trafficking, and so forth are not welcome here. Should you have used the funding to create a facility for our veterans who have served our country and paid their dues, and who the government actually owes, we would be the most supportive community imaginable.
Or perhaps disabled children, special needs or poverty-stricken families in need, then we would be on board. Instead, you buy a facility days before Biden takes office, odd, presumably, under the pretense you would receive a no-bid contract with a huge amount of funds to house illegal immigrants, which you did. You then paid off the lien very shortly after, and a release of the lien was filed in July 2021, even though Governor Abbott made it abundantly clear he would not allow a license for illegal immigrant children’s housing via executive order two months prior. I didn’t find that you are licensed to house children when I researched the company last year. Has that status changed? Let’s be honest, some may presume we are smalltown, small-minded uneducated individuals.
What we presume is it always comes down to following the money. Another interesting fact is Endeavors named a formal Biden official as their govern ment liaison for your company just one year prior and then you receive an astronomical amount of federal funds far surpassing anything you received for veterans, not coincidental, I’m sure.
By the way, entering our country illegally makes them criminals.
Perhaps guess you don’t see it that way. You should consider relocating this facility to a blue state that invited these very is- sues here. We stand firm against it. Additionally, when this facility was announced, it was under false pretense, in which some implied Congressman McCaul He has not supported or endorsed the placement of unaccompanied illegal immigrant children in his district or Colorado County.
Our long-time house rep, Ben Lehman also took a firm stand against it. Good business practices would seem you work with leadership, but who am I to say?
The former Eagle Lake City Manager, Landin, seems to have deceived the community, claiming Endeavors received letters of support for this facility, when in fact that is untrue, it was not this facility, per the Congress- man's office. She posted about it on LinkedIn. as having a positive impact, which the majority of peers disagree with.
The fact is the Biden Administration has neglected to stop this infiltration, and we as a community don’t want to suffer the consequences of his lack of leadership and failed policies. I do wonder.
What are your housing protocols and security measures that are in place for these unaccompanied children? How will you obtain a license? What is the potential impact on this community?
How can you ensure their safety or ours? Finally, what happens when these boys become adults and what percentage gains asylum? Thank you for your time, and I hope you can address the questions.”
Fulghum said he will address concerns and take into consideration all that was discussed at the meeting.
'Endeavors is a faith-based, humanitarian-focused nonprofit serving vulnerable populations for over 53 years. We are proud to have served Veterans and their families in Colorado County for over five years and are excited to become a larger part of the community at Eagle Lake. We are committed to working with local businesses and excited about the potential opportunities to hire local residents to work at our group home,” said Fulghum.
One of the questions by Gustus that was answered was the fact that the Texas Department of Health and Human Services granted Endeavors an exemption from Governor Abbott’s executive order saying there would not be a license issued to operate an illegal immigration facility in Eagle Lake. This exemption seems to override the executive order.
Eagle Lake Mayor Tim Kelley said he is 100 percent against the Endeavors facility. However, if it is a done deal by being pushed through by Big Government, he will work with Endeavors with safety and security and to the benefit of the city and citizens of Eagle Lake.
Eagle Lake City Manager Tink Jackson expressed concerns about the security and location of the juvenile immigration facilities but he is looking at ways to work with Endeavors for the betterment of the city and to forge a working relationship.
