President Barack Obama (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The White House is considering a plan to relocate thousands of illegal immigrant children to the home state of U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, causing some to question whether presidential politics is at play.

Sessions has for years has led the opposition to immigration policies supported by President Barack Obama. The plan would send the children to Baldwin County, across the bay from Sessions' home in Mobile County.

Sessions has also emerged among Donald Trump's fiercest supporters and was the first senator to endorse the GOP presidential nominee. Trump's hardline immigration approach - which includes deportation of all undocumented immigrants and a wall built along the U.S.-Mexican border -- has been embraced by Sessions.

"It's highly probable that this is more political than practical," said Baldwin County Commissioner Chris Elliott.

Said Baldwin County Sheriff Huey "Hoss" Mack: "I hope that is not the case. The polls I've seen is Alabama is very conservative on the immigration issue. The federal government is not."

'Nothing to lose'

Sessions has been quiet on the administration's proposal to investigate the capability of two rural and underutilized Naval air fields near Silverhill and Orange Beach to house an overflow of unaccompanied children under age 17 who entered the United States without authorization.

NOLF Silverhill, a little-used Naval outlying field on Baldwin County 54 north of Silverhill, Ala., is one of two locations the federal government is considering for the placement of approximately 2,000 unaccompanied minors who entered the U.S. illegally. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are expected to send representatives soon to Baldwin County to inspect this air field and another one near Orange Beach as possible resettlement locations. (John Sharp/jsharp@al.com).

A spokesman for Sessions this week referred to the senator's opposing statements in January on a similar proposal to house illegal minor children at Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base in Montgomery. The statement, signed by both Alabama senators, Sessions and Sen. Richard Shelby, criticized Obama for refusing to enforce immigration laws and urged him to deport the children to their home countries. The same spokesman said that Sessions was likely too busy this week to comment on latest proposal.

Shelby and U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Fairhope, have been among the most vocal in criticizing the plan. Said Byrne: "It is troubling additional facilities are needed at all."

Sessions, though, has emerged as a national figure. He's considered as a longshot vice-presidential candidate. The senator has served as Trump's national security advisor and is considered the Obama Administration's toughest critic on immigration reform.

"There is no political penalty for President Obama, or for Hillary Clinton, for putting immigrants in Alabama," said Larry Powell, professor of communication studies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. "It will make Republicans mad, but Alabama isn't going to vote Democratic anyone. Why not take a stab at irritating Jeff Sessions? There's nothing to lose on the part of the president."

Said William Stewart, a professor emeritus of political sciences at the University of Alabama: "You can't take politics out of politics. At the highest levels of government, staffers are paid to be aware of the political implications of what they propose. They are aware of the places their critics call home."

Not everyone believes presidential politics is at the heart of the resettlement consideration. Bryne is one of them: "No. I think it is the combination of a totally misguided policy being implemented by an incompetent part of the federal government."

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, whose office of Refugee Resettlement is overseeing the analysis of the Baldwin County air fields, said there is no political link.

"We evaluate where there is space available," said Andrea Helling, spokeswoman with HHS. "We evaluate space all over the country in places that have Democratic politicians and Republican politicians. We have an operational and legal responsibility to take care of these children. We are looking at all of our options to make the best use of taxpayer dollars."

The Baldwin County sites are under consideration amid a surge this year in unaccompanied children coming across the southwest border illegally. According to U.S. Border Patrol statistics, agents have apprehended 32,952 children from October 2015 to April 2016. With five months remaining in the federal government's fiscal year, apprehensions have almost eclipsed last year's 39,970 total.

The 2016 figures are on par with 2014, when a record 68,541 unaccompanied children crossed were apprehended by border patrol agents.

A vast majority of unaccompanied children are coming from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. In 2014, the largest number of children (27 percent) came from Honduras, followed by Guatemala (25 percent), El Salvador (24 percent) and Mexico (23 percent).

According to a report from the Immigration Policy Center, researchers have cited violence as the primary motivation for migration. Children from the region are citing gang or cartel violence as a prime motivation for the influx.

Helling said because of the recent uptick in apprehensions, HHS has had to activate two temporary shelters for the children - one is located at an Air Force Base in New Mexico, the other at a Job Corps site in Homestead, Fla.

'Nothing out there'

And now HHS is looking for other sites that could serve as temporary housing.

Critics say the remote sites in Baldwin County, the fastest growing county in the state, are ill-equipped to handle an influx of children. At NOLF Silverhill, for instance, only two small guard shacks are on site adjacent to a landing strip no longer used by the U.S. military.

"We can't understand why logistically, HHS will give it a glance," said Baldwin County Commissioner Tucker Dorsey. "There is nothing out there."

Helling said HHS is aware of the present short comings at each facility, but that it's not a concern. "Our team goes out and looks at the land and what type of infrastructure that needs to be brought in for generators, portable water, improvements made to gates, security infrastructure and how many kids that we could accommodate," she said. "We've been in this process since January looking for different facilities."

She said the facilities would be constructed of pre-fabricated materials and which could be "set up and down quickly."

According to 2014 figures from HHS, the average length of stay at one of the temporary facilities was approximately 35 days and that about 85 percent of children served are released while their deportation proceedings are in progress.

Local officials, though, are concerned about additional logistical headaches. Among them, is hurricane evacuation.

To that end, Helling said; "It's a big deal to us. Given that a number of our shelters are in hurricane zones, it's also about looking at what type of evacuation planning we have to do to make a site feasible. We require a robust evacuation (procedure)."

'A major concern'



Lawmakers are also worried about the possibility of the children entering into Baldwin County's overcrowded schools where nearly half of the district's 45 campuses are above their capacity limits.

Helling said all services at the two resettlement facilities would be self-contained. "The kids don't interact in the community at all," she said. "Part of the component is we hire licensed teachers to provide educational services."

Mack, sheriff of Baldwin County, said he's concerned about security because the children can be considered runaway risks. He's also worried about the type of children who might be arriving due to difficulties in background checks of illegal immigrants.

"We don't know their parent's background, and we won't know if the names they will be giving are their real names," Mack said. "Even in the American system, it's hard to do backgrounds on juveniles. In some of these countries, the Central and South American countries, some of them don't have systems that track children at all so we don't know what we're getting."

Among his concerns is gang affiliation. He said border agents he's spoken with said some of the children "are being used as drug mules" who smuggle small amounts of heroin and cocaine across the border.

"A major concern is if some of these unclaimed children are coming across the border, is there a faction of those who can be connected to criminal activity?" Mack said. "We don't know that and it's a concern."

Mack said he hasn't had any contact with HHS representatives. And residents, who live nearby the NOLF Silverhill, say they are unaware of the specifics. One immediate neighbor to the air field said they consider the government's proposal a "rumor."

Another air field neighbor, who declined to give his name out of fear that the federal government will hold statements against him, said the entire concept was "all politics."

"Our president is showing his butt crack and if his successor isn't elected, this will not happen," he said.

Mary Williams, moved into a house close to the air field about two months ago, said while she doesn't think it's a "good idea," she's not overly concerned about utilizing the facility as a resettlement camp.

"It doesn't matter what people say anyways," Williams said.

'Hate the government'

Jonathan Gray, a Mobile-based political strategist, said the lack of answers is troubling for residents and lawmakers unaware of exactly what the government is planning.

Helling said she will discuss the plans further with Baldwin County Commissioners during a teleconference at the group's work session at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday in Robertsdale.

"This is why people hate the federal government," Gray said. "They don't ask questions, ask permission and don't knock on the door and tell neighbors what they will be doing next door. They just show up and destroy people's lives."

Mack said the possibility of relocating illegal immigrants to Baldwin County has been the "No. 1 topic" of discussion at his church and that "people were concerned about it."

Gray points out that the resettlement in Baldwin County would take place in one of the "most conservative states" and in that state's "most conservative county." In Baldwin county, 46.9 percent of the GOP supported Trump during the March 1 GOP primary. That was greater than the percent Trump earned in other large counties, including Jefferson, Shelby, Madison, Montgomery, Mobile and Morgan.

"Could they be smart to develop a strategy to poke the tiger? Or are they that stupid to likely pick the worst place to do this? Then I'm going with stupid," Gray said. "There are certainly more liberal, well-prepared areas with which to do this without the controversy you are going to find in south Alabama."

He added, "Whether we are good Christian people and welcome these folks or not, Baldwin County is the fastest growing county in Alabama, we have tourists beating our doors down and can barely handle the traffic. It's hot outside and there are no facilities in place to put these people."

Helling said any housing that would take place at the air fields would be considered the "last component of true overflow if we get an increase of children we are not expecting."

She also disputes numbers floated by local officials who say that up to 2,000 children could be temporarily sheltered at the two air fields.

"We are responsible to make sure we have enough beds ready," she said. "We don't speculate on the number of children who come."