Exclusive -- Andy Biggs: In 13 Months, Joe Biden Lost Track of 20K Young Border Crossers Freed into the U.S.

In his first 13 months in office, President Joe Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) lost track of nearly 20,000 young border crossers who were released into the United States, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) shared with Breitbart News.

Last year, Biggs sent a letter to Biden’s HHS requesting detailed data on the number of Unaccompanied Alien Children (UACs) — young border crossers smuggled through the southern border, alone, without adult relatives — whom the administration released to so-called “sponsors” across the United States.

Biden’s HHS responded to Biggs’ request, revealing that nearly 20,000 UACs had been released into the U.S. interior as of late February to a sponsor whom the agency now cannot locate. The figure indicates that about two in every ten UACs released to a sponsor by the Biden administration from late January 2021 to late February 2022 cannot be located.

“This is shocking,” Biggs writes in a new letter to Biden’s HHS shared with Breitbart News. “The nonchalant attitude displayed in the response highlights the total lack of accountability throughout the Department for the welfare of UAC and is offensive.”

Biden’s HHS also revealed that about 20 percent of UACs in that 13-month period were released to sponsors who are not their relatives. Among the more than 146,000 UACs placed with sponsors in that time frame, none of the sponsors had their immigration statuses verified by the agency, suggesting that tens of thousands of illegal aliens are likely sponsors for UACs.

“HHS’s refusal to verify the immigration status of potential sponsors means that it may be placing UAC in the care of illegal aliens unable to work and provide for the UAC’s needs,” Biggs wrote in his latest letter. “This fact, coupled with your inability to contact sponsors following the placement of UAC in their care raises serious concerns about the safety and well-being of children that your Department appears to be ignoring.”

In the letter, Biggs again is asking Biden’s HHS for updated UAC data, including what the agency is doing to locate the nearly 20,000 UACs it lost track of over the president’s first term in office.

The data is especially notable considering a federal probe was opened last year into whether UACs, most of whom are work-ready teens and eligible for work permits, were being labor-trafficked.

In many cases, adult border crossers pose as UACs to Border Patrol agents in the hopes of being quickly released into the United States interior. Last year, for instance, an illegal alien who posed as a UAC allegedly murdered his sponsor in Florida.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.