Rep. Bridenstine Denied Access To Child Immigrant Facility, Blames Obama For Crisis

Oklahoma First District Congressman Jim Bridenstine is upset after being denied access to a facility housing 1,100 immigrant children at Fort Sill on Tuesday.

The facility was set up by the Health and Human Services Department to house 1,100 immigrant children from Central America.

The congressman said he had visited the base commander, then approached the HHS facility where he was told by security that he was not allowed to enter.

Bridenstine appeared on 6 In The Morning Thursday and said there is no excuse for denying him access to the facility.

The congressman said he had sent an email to HHS saying he wanted to visit the facility after he finished his meeting with the commanding general at Fort Sill and received an email back saying that "wasn't going to be permissible."

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is overseeing the children's care, and Bridenstine says an agency official met him at the gate and told him he could schedule a visit for later this month.

Congressman Bridenstine said as a member of Congress there's no reason why he should not be allowed to visit a federal facility, especially in light of the fact that President Obama is asking Congress for $2 billion to grow the operation.

HHS released a statement Thursday about what happened:

"We have been facilitating tours of our temporary shelters at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Naval Base Ventura County-Port Hueneme and Fort Sill as frequently as possible without disrupting our ability to properly care for the children as part of this humanitarian situation. In addition to four media tours, HHS has provided five tours for approximately 55 local, state and federal elected officials who had requested the opportunity to observe the facilities, meet the staff and interact with the children.

"We will continue to schedule these tours of temporary shelters on a regular basis with any officials who request them."

Click on the video above to watch the whole interview to see what he has to say about the situation.

6/20/2014 Related Story: Governor Mary Fallin Tours Immigrant Housing At Fort Sill