The Biden administration has signed contracts indicating over $500 million could be spent to house illegal alien migrant children at a luxury private school campus in Greensboro, North Carolina for the next five years (with an additional five-year option). The site is the 100-acre former American Hebrew Academy that closed in 2019 but was saved with millions of dollars in loans from a Chinese company that effectively took over the school. The campus has been renamed the Greensboro Piedmont Academy Influx Care Facility for UC. UC stands for unaccompanied children, meaning Biden is incentivizing families to send their children alone on the dangerous trek to illegally cross the U.S. southern border for the chance to get all expenses paid care courtesy of Uncle Sugar.
The luxury camp is being planned to house up to 800 illegal alien children aged 13-17 for two weeks to several months until they can be resettled in the U.S. There are conflicting reports on when the camp will start taking in migrant children ranging from the end of July to the end of the year.
Description of the campus via Wikipedia
AHA International School is situated on a 100-acre (40 ha) campus, including a 22-acre (8.9 ha) lake. Following a national architectural competition to design the campus, Frank Lloyd Wright’s associate architect, Aaron Green, was commissioned to create the master plan for the campus and building designs for every building the academy would eventually need for the immediate future and for years to come.
In addition to 16 single-sex dormitory houses and 34 staff resident apartments, the academy had 32 buildings including an 88,000 square feet (8,200 m2), $18 million athletic center and natatorium. The athletic center includes two basketball courts, rock climbing walls, a racquetball court, an exercise gym and an eight-lane pool.[18]
…In addition to the 88,000 square foot athletic center and natatorium, the academy has playing fields including: a soccer stadium, baseball fields, softball fields, multiple all-purpose fields, and a rubberized track constructed of recycled materials.
Three contracts have been signed this year: $49.8 million for the five year lease with the academy, and two five year contracts with Deployed Resources worth $177.1 million for consulting and administrative support and $166 million for social services. The latter contract has a “potential award amount” of $322 million which would put the Biden administration’s spending well over half a billion dollars if meant for the academy.
The Greensboro News & Record reported last week the Department of Health and Human Services said in response to a query on what Deployed Resources would be doing for the high dollar contracts:
The News & Record sent an email to HHS asking exactly what services would be provided by Deployed Resources.
In its response, HHS said, “through a contractor, ORR anticipates that some 1,500 people will staff the facility, across two to three shifts, in a variety of roles including case managers, mental health clinicians, medical clinicians, administration, logistics, food service, and other areas.”
The News & Record also reported the American Hebrew Academy “also will be contracted to provide onsite education for the children” in addition to the $49.8 million lease.
More News & Record: “While in ORR care, children have access to medical treatment, legal services, translation services, education, and mental and behavioral health counselors and are able to connect with family at least twice a week,” HHS said. “Children also meet with a case manager at least weekly.”
North Carolina’s Republican senators and congressmen challenged the Biden administration on the the Chinese involvement with the camp in a letter dated July 18:
Secretaries Becerra and Mayorkas,
We write today regarding the recent decision by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) to
finalize an agreement to open an Influx Care Facility (ICF) to house unaccompanied children
(UC) at the American Hebrew Academy in Greensboro, North Carolina.1 We share the concerns
raised by our constituents about the decision to place this facility in North Carolina, and request
further information to understand the impact on local communities and the costs to taxpayers of
using this facility. We are also concerned to learn that this facility is reportedly indebted to a
Chinese company, raising further questions about the use of taxpayer dollars to produce profits
for Chinese companies.2On April 30, 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) provided notice that a
site visit would occur at the American Hebrew Academy on May 4, 2021. Less than one week
later, Secretary Becerra told Rep. Richard Hudson “there is no plan that we have to shelter
children in North Carolina.” In subsequent correspondence in October 2021 with congressional
staff, HHS noted that ORR was still considering the American Hebrew Academy, but that no
agreements or contracts had been completed.We next received notice from the agency about this facility on June 9, 2022, when ORR
announced it had procured a lease to use the American Hebrew Academy as an ICF. Further,
HHS announced a federally funded contract worth almost $50 million over five years to operate
the facility.3We are particularly concerned about this decision in light of the Biden Administration’s failure
to secure our southern border and to prevent a stream of illegal immigration into our nation.
Since President Biden took office, there have been approximately 3 million encounters with
illegal immigrants along our southern border.
4
It is unfortunate that the Biden Administration’s
failed immigration policies have resulted in a humanitarian crisis on the border for migrants and
the need for an ICF at all, especially in a state as far from the border as North Carolina.More recently, we have learned about ties between the American Hebrew Academy and the
previously publicly-traded Chinese company Puxin Limited. In 2019, Puxin announced it had
entered an agreement with the American Hebrew Academy to loan the Academy $26 million for
operation as an international college preparatory school. The school did not open, and the
Academy has sat unused until this lease was agreed to.On May 25, 2022, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) notified the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) that Puxin would be delisted, and that trading in the company’s American
Depositary Shares would be suspended immediately.5 According to the NYSE, this decision
occurred after Puxin was ordered by the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands (Cayman Court) to
wind up its operations on April 29, 2022.6 The NYSE had previously suspended trading of Puxin
on May 10, 2022 in light of the Cayman Court ruling.We are alarmed based on our current knowledge of this situation, and deeply concerned at the
prospect of $50 million in taxpayer funds being potentially misused or mishandled by a troubled
Chinese company. Previous questions last month from members of our delegation to Secretary
Becerra have so far gone unanswered. However, as a matter of congressional oversight, we
urgently request that your agencies respond to the following questions by August 08, 2022:
The letter by Sen. Thom Tillis and Rep. Richard Hudson cited reporting by Michelle Rosenberg at the Floridian Press about the Chinese firm funding the academy.
The letter was also signed by Sen. Richard Burr and Reps. Dan Bishop, Ted Budd, Virginia Foxx, Patrick McHenry, Greg Murphy and David Rouzer.
Judicial Watch reported several Chinese have taken high positions at the academy:
“The American Hebrew Academy has deep Chinese connections, according to records uncovered by Judicial Watch. Its president, vice president and treasurer are Ni Zhang, Shong Gao, and Wei Yang. A few months after closing in the fall of 2019, the school took out a $26 million mortgage from Puxin, a Chinese education company. It planned to open under a new name, but never did. The money HHS is paying in rent will likely be used to pay back the Chinese company.”
The controversy about the the camp has grown to the point Democrat Congressman Kathy Manning sent her own letter to the Biden administration demanding answers.
Liberal News & Record columnist Allen Johnson is concerned the Biden administration is blowing it (excerpt):
…Based on what we’ve heard and seen so far we have to wonder how the federal bureaucracy can be so bad at doing good.
Memo to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Even among people of good will and good faith, you are testing nerves and patience, mostly by not leveling with us.
As the News & Record has reported, the five-year cost of leasing the campus is $50 million in taxpayer money.
I know. LeBron James makes $43 million in one year. But $50 million is a lot.
And it’s still unclear what the total cost may be. You won’t say.
DHHS could make this sad song better with more openness and straight talk.
Yet too often you provide vague answers or no answers at all.
To be honest, guys, to us you seem to have bumbled into Greensboro following a user’s manual on How to Create Angst, Fear and Distrust, Even Among People Who Are Trying to be Supportive.
