The Biden-Harris administration is obstructing Congressional and state investigations into the exploitation and trafficking of unaccompanied alien children, a Senate committee report finds.
The announcement was made by Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, ranking member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. report Tuesday accused the Biden-Harris administration of widespread “failures” that ultimately led to widespread abuse and exploitation of immigrant children. The report also accused the White House of “obstructing” Congressional oversight of the treatment of unaccompanied alien children and obstructing other states' investigations. (Related: ACLU sues ICE to peek into President Trump's mass deportation plan)
“When Ranking Member Cassidy sought to hold the Biden-Harris administration accountable, the administration went to great lengths to cover up its failures and thwart new surveillance efforts, and its course of action continues today. continues,” the report said.
“The administration also refuses to comply with national efforts to investigate and stop human trafficking and exploitation. [unaccompanied children] The company's weak sponsor screening policies and confusion are to blame,” the report said.
Sen. Ron Johnson (Sen. (Republican, Wisconsin) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/POOL/AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
The report documents how Cassidy's office examines the care unaccompanied children receive within the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), the screening of sponsors, and the care unaccompanied children receive within the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). It cited an example of “regularly” submitting letters to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) requesting information about care. These migrant children are safe upon release. However, the report alleges that HHS repeatedly took months to respond to these requests, and sometimes did not respond at all.
The committee's report said HHS officials also blocked state investigators when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sought answers.
Mr. DeSantis told the Florida Supreme Court that the U.S. and Mexico petition to investigate criminal activity related to the smuggling of unaccompanied alien children into Florida from the US border. says the report. But HHS “refuses” to provide witnesses and documents to the grand jury, ignores subpoenas, and “actively encourages” Florida entities that contract with ORR officials not to cooperate with investigators. It is said that he did.
“Similarly, state officials in Virginia have expressed alarm over ORR's refusal to share information with law enforcement agencies investigating human trafficking and abuse cases,” the report said. ''Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares repeatedly sent letters to President Joe Biden. And HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said investigating missing and exploited migrant children is difficult because HHS shares “very little information.”
This report presents the latest findings on the ongoing border crisis, particularly its impact on the hundreds of thousands of immigrant children living in the United States.
As the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General reported in August, federal authorities have lost track of tens of thousands of unaccompanied immigrant children who entered the country since fiscal year 2019.
“The exploitation of unaccompanied children has been documented for years,” Cassidy said in a press release. “The Biden-Harris administration should have revised its policies to protect these children, but instead it covered up its own mistakes by subverting Congress and states.”
“The lack of transparency to the American people is reprehensible,” the Republican senator said. “It's hard to see this as anything other than an attempt by the Biden-Harris administration to evade responsibility.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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