(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) On March 20, 2024, a group of House Republicans wrote a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, demanding information about the lost children of illegal aliens.
Unaccompanied alien children (UACs) who get into the United States through the southern border are normally transferred to the custody of the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), according to the Daily Caller. However, it was revealed in a February 2023 report that the office lost track of over 85,000 such children after their placement in the care of U.S.-based sponsors.
A group of 10 House Republicans, who were led by Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, demanded information about how HHS approves sponsors and its efforts to keep track of the children.
“We are concerned that fraud surrounding UAC sponsorship is severe due to ORR’s lackluster policies and procedures to verify a sponsor’s identity and relationship to the child. Children apprehended, transported and processed alone are not safe from human traffickers, who may pose as sponsors once migrant children are flown throughout the country by the federal government,” they wrote.
In the letter, the politicians asked why the ORR discontinued a requirement that sponsors of UAC only be U.S. citizens and how family relationships between sponsors and UACs are verified.
“In 2022, HHS removed the requirement to collect documentation from potential sponsors that verify their immigration status or U.S. citizenship in the Family Reunification application. This is a clear failure that leaves migrant children vulnerable and provides criminals with an easy gateway into the United States,” they wrote.
The politicians also wanted to know about the circumstances in which sponsors are waived from being subject to an FBI National Criminal History Check, state child abuse and neglect (CA/N) registries and public records checks, and the number of “safety and well-being follow-up calls” conducted by ORR staff and whether these resulted in any subsequent action, the Caller reported.
“Human trafficking is an abhorrent crime, but the Biden administration’s irresponsible policies are making it easier for traffickers to exploit vulnerable children. It is imperative HHS immediately address these failures and implement stringent measures to protect these children from further harm,” Gooden told the news source.
