If you recall, last year, a huge story, at least what should have been a huge story, broke in the New York Times about children having been lost by this administration.
These were all the unaccompanied minors that had crossed the border under the watch of this administration.
There are tens of thousands of children still unaccounted for, and the GOP is demanding answers.
Find Them
When the NYT published its report, there were estimated to be about 85,000 children missing, so that number has surely risen.
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is now leading the effort to get answers on where those children are.
According to Grassley, the administration lost these children “by rushing them out of the custody of your Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) into the hands of unvetted sponsors who often continue to exploit and abuse them.”
Since Biden and Harris have been in office, there have been roughly 500,000 unaccompanied minors that have come into this country, so they have apparently lost about 20% of those children.
When these children arrive, HHS is tasked with finding family members or guardians to sponsor these children and care for them, only the agency has lost track of many of these children after handing them off.
The NYT piece found that many of these children have wound up in child labor schemes and human trafficking networks.
When Secretary Beccera was approached about the numbers, he only stated that the number sounded “unrealistic,” but he could provide no proof to debunk the claim.
Grassley’s letter, in part, stated, “By not supplying the information law enforcement requested, ORR denied Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents critical information, including the last known addresses of children and sponsors and the identity of other household members.”
The Biden administration responded to the inquiry, stating, “The Administration has taken action to protect unaccompanied children through exacting sponsor vetting for those caring for unaccompanied children and post-release services for all children in sponsor care.
“HHS is also implementing the strongest rule to protect unaccompanied children ever through the Foundational Rule on Unaccompanied Children, which further implements detailed policies and procedures providing for the safe and timely release of unaccompanied children to vetted and approved sponsors, requiring background and criminal records checks for all sponsors and adults residing in the potential sponsor’s household, strengthened post-release services to ensure child well-being and immigration compliance, and enhanced standards for private care facilities that house unaccompanied children.
“It is outrageous that Republican Members of Congress are trying to end these protections for children through use of the Congressional Review Act to repeal this critical rule.”
But did you notice how they offer no proof that the NYT report or Grassley’s allegations are false?
This is just the White House saying it’s true; we say it’s true, so it’s true, and that is all you need to know.
Not this time… Grassley is relentless, and I have no doubt he will get to the bottom of this, one way or another.
