Gateway Pundit Claims the “Obama Admin” Awarded a “$50M Contract” to House Migrant Children: A Bald-Faced Lie
DERPFollowing up on the ridiculously awful post at Gateway Pundit highlighted by Alouette, let’s take a closer look at the claim made by Jim Hoft’s guest poster Kristinn Taylor in this screaming headline: FEDS TO OPEN $50 MILLION RESORT for ILLEGAL CHILDREN - Complete With Tennis Courts, Sauna & Pools | the Gateway Pundit.
Really? The “feds” are opening this “resort,” and it’s costing $50 million? Is any of that even remotely true?
Of course not — this is Jim Hoft and Gateway Pundit we’re talking about. As our previous post made very clear, the “feds” have nothing to do with this; a private faith-based charity made the bid on this facility, and it’s not even close to being a “luxury resort” — it’s a run-down motel that’s been on the market for sale since at least January 2013.
Kristinna Taylor makes another absurd claim in the first sentence to that ugly Gateway Pundit post:
The Obama administration has awarded a $50 million contract to a charitable group to buy a Texas resort hotel and transform it in to a 600 bed facility for juvenile illegal aliens.
[…]
According to a Hidalgo County commissioner, the BCFS contract for the Palm Aire Hotel and Suites is an annual one worth $50 million per year. It is not part of the $3.7 billion emergency funding for the illegal alien invasion requested by the Obama administration as the bill hasn’t yet passed but it is a good indication of where the money will go.
What about that one? Is that even remotely close to being factual?
Of course not! It’s an absolute bald-faced lie. The Obama administration did not “award” a $50 million contract. Here’s where that dishonest claim comes from: Nonprofit Seeks Approval to Make Palm Aire Hotel a Child Immigrant Facility. (h/t: @tettes.)
Hidalgo County leaders, including Judge Ramon Garcia and Pct. 1 Commissioner A.C. Cuellar, have been proponents of the project.
“I think we could use something like that in Weslaco,” Cuellar said. “Anytime that humanitarian problems happen I’m interested, especially when it involves kids.”
He added that the project, which BCFS said will employ 650 people and have an annual economic impact of some $50 million, would be a major development boon.
That’s right, folks; Kristinn Taylor is simply lying about this. He completely made it up (yes, Kristinn is a man).
Hidalgo County commissioner A.C. Cuellar said the project would have an economic impact of $50 million, because of the people it would employ and the services it would use. There’s no “annual contract worth $50 million.”
These people are such horrible liars, it’s mind-boggling.
And now the totally false story is featured at the top of Drudge Report:
As a result of the insane right wing hysteria and dishonesty over this story, Baptist Children And Family Services are dropping their plans to purchase the facility.
WESLACO - BCFS Health and Human Services on Wednesday withdrew a proposal to turn a Weslaco hotel into a facility for young illegal immigrants.
A media release from the group of non-profit agencies cited “negative backlash caused by information misreported to the public” as the reason for walking away from the project.
The agency had agreed to use $3.8 million in non-government funds to buy the Palm Aire Hotel and Suites on FM 1015.
BCFS sought to turn the hotel into a 600-bed facility, but the project didn’t reach the point of submitting the proposal to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, according to the media release.
That absolutely confirms that there was no “$50 million contract” — BCFS had not even submitted a grant proposal for this project.
And now, the false claim of a $50 million contract is being spread by Fox News:
Notice that the announcer says the Baptist charity pulled out because of “information reported in the media.”
No. See the direct quote above: BCFS actually said “information MISREPORTED” in the media.
