The Biden-Harris administration ignored or dismissed over 65,000 reports regarding migrant children, including over 7,300 reports of human trafficking.
BUTLER COUNTY, IOWA – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today released a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) summary revealing thousands of concerning reports were identified in the Biden-Harris administration’s unaccompanied alien children (UC) program, but left unresolved, including cases of potential trafficking and fraud.
The Trump administration is now working to process 65,605 reports concerning migrant children, which were ignored or dismissed during the previous administration. These reports include 56,591 notifications of concern, 7,346 reports of human trafficking and 1,688 fraud leads. In a little over 100 days, the Trump administration has processed over 28 percent of the Biden-Harris backlog, resulting in 528 investigative leads, 36 investigations accepted for prosecution by U.S. Attorneys, seven indictments, 25 arrest warrants, 11 arrests and three convictions.
“My oversight exposed the Biden-Harris administration for placing unaccompanied migrant children with dangerous sponsors and actively obstructing law enforcement and Congress’ efforts to rescue vulnerable kids. I applaud the Trump administration for its swift action to protect unaccompanied migrant children by addressing the concerning reports the Biden-Harris administration shelved,” Grassley said. “I look forward to working with Secretary Kennedy to ensure justice is served.”
Read Grassley’s full letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. HERE.
Background:
Grassley has spearheaded efforts to protect unaccompanied migrant children from exploitation and abuse for more than a decade.
Last year, he submitted a law enforcement referral, including legally protected whistleblower disclosures, to the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Bureau of Investigation flagging potentially criminal activity in the UC program. Homeland Security Investigations used this referral to identify over 100 suspicious UC sponsors. However, the Biden-Harris administration failed to fully respond to two thirds of the subpoenas issued by law enforcement as a result of Grassley’s referral. At Grassley’s request, President Trump’s HHS has pledged to review compliance with those subpoenas to help law enforcement find and rescue children, and shut down possible trafficking networks.
This Congress, the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General published a report which validated Grassley’s findings and confirmed the Biden-Harris administration lost track of hundreds-of-thousands of migrant children, placed children with dangerous sponsors and restricted information sharing with law enforcement.
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