Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra said, “We do the best we can,” after being asked if he would change anything about his tenure. HHS, the Inspector General (IG) revealed, has lost contact with thousands of Unaccompanied Alien Children (UACs) after they were released to adult sponsors in the United States.
During a hearing before the House Immigration Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA), Becerra testified that he would not change any decisions or policies about his tenure.
“Would you change anything that you’ve done in the last four years, with 320,000 children unaccounted for by your administration?” Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) asked Becerra, to which he responded:
We work tirelessly to strengthen and improve the program of the unaccompanied children that come before us and we work really hard to make sure that we first and foremost protect the safety and the wellbeing of those kids. Every day is a challenge and we do the best we can. [Emphasis added]
Some 365,705 UACs have been released into the United States interior from Fiscal Year 2021 through Fiscal Year 2023 — on Becerra’s watch. For comparison, the last two fiscal years of the Trump administration just about 83,100 UACs were released into the U.S. interior.
Tens of thousands of UACs are not showing up to their immigration hearings following their release into the United States interior and, more alarmingly, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has failed to provide Notices to Appear (NTAs) in immigration court to hundreds of thousands of UACs.
“Based on our audit work and according to ICE officials, UACs who do not appear for court are considered at higher risk for trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor,” the IG’s report states:
Although we identified more than 32,000 UACs who did not appear for their immigration court dates, that number may have been much larger had ICE issued NTAs to the more than 291,000 UACs who were not placed into removal proceedings. By not issuing NTAs to all UACs, ICE limits its chances of having contact with UACs when they are released from HHS’ custody, which reduces opportunities to verify their safety. Without an ability to monitor the location and status of UACs, ICE has no assurance UACs are safe from trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor. [Emphasis added]
Likewise, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) pressed Becerra on whether he could state without any doubt that thousands of UACs whom the agency has lost contact with are safe from harm.
“Can you account for the whereabouts of those 400,000-something children — the 320,000 that were put in the report by the Inspector General and the 85,000 that we talked about before in 2023? Do you know where all of these children are and that they are safe?” Roy asked.
“Congressman, as I explained the process, we get these kids when they are referred to us by the Department of Homeland Security,” Becerra responded. “We then provide them with care while they are in our custody. We lose custody of those kids once we find a vetted sponsor with whom they can stay.”
In February, the HHS IG published a report revealing that in 22 percent of cases, the agency did not conduct proper and safe follow-up calls to check in with UACs released to adult sponsors in the United States.
The Labor Department in Fiscal Year 2023 found an 88 percent increase in child labor trafficking compared to Fiscal Year 2019. Last year, nearly 6,000 children, many of them UACs, were discovered illegally working brutal and often life-threatening jobs.
In April of last year, an HHS whistleblower testified before Congress and warned that the agency is operating a “multi-billion-dollar child trafficking operation” where UACs are being mass released to unvetted adult sponsors.
“Some sponsors view children as commodities and assets to be used for earning income — this is why we are witnessing an explosion of labor trafficking,” the whistleblower said.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.