According to a Friday report from CBS News, former White House chief of staff John Kelly is now a member of the board of directors for a holding company Caliburn International – the parent company of Comprehensive Health Services which operates some of the largest shelters for unaccompanied migrant children in the country.
James Van Dusen, Caliburn’s CEO, issued a statement in which he said:
“With four decades of military and humanitarian leadership, in-depth understanding of international affairs and knowledge of current economic drivers around the world, General Kelly is a strong strategic addition to our team. Our board remains acutely focused on advising on the safety and welfare of unaccompanied minors who have been entrusted to our care and custody by the Department of Health and Human Services to address a very urgent need in caring for and helping to find appropriate sponsors for these unaccompanied minors.’’
There is a few high-ranking military personnel in Caliburn’s board of directors such as retired Adm. James Stavridis, Gen. Anthony Zinni and Rear Adm. Kathleen Martin.
CBS also reported that Kelly served on the board of advisers of the investment firm DC Capital Partners, which now owns Caliburn, prior to joining the Trump administration in 2017. He formerly served as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and resigned from his White House post in December.
John Kelly is known to have defended President Trump’s policies on zero tolerance, which was the cause of many separations of migrant children and their parents because the parents were prosecuted for illegally crossing the border. Trump ended this policy in 2018.
The Department of Health and Human Services operates a network of just over 100 facilities for unaccompanied migrant children across the country, and each one is supposed to be licensed by the state where it is located.
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