tOP STORY
The Dogmatic Failure of the Biden Administration and the Case of the 300,000+ Missing Wards of Government
By GREG TAYLOR with Mary Otto-Chang HBA, MES, PhD (Candidate)
As much as the illegal immigration that has flooded the US border has been a blight on the United States, there has been one aspect of it that is both heartbreaking and rage inducing.
As much as the illegal immigration that has flooded the US border has been a blight on the United States, there has been one aspect of it that is both heartbreaking and rage inducing. In the past four years, over 300,000 unaccompanied minors who have crossed the southern border, and been taken into government care, have then gone missing. Nobody knows where the children are, whether they are being abused or exploited or in a caring home.
The worst part, is that the US government has done nothing about it because of political dogma, on the surface at least. One need recall that missing children, and all auxiliary industries, are some of the most lucrative businesses around.
Where has all the concern been for the past four years or even just the slightest curiosity about the fate of an increasing number of unaccompanied minors crossing the southern border? The truth is that many politicians and media are honoring their default Non-Disclosure Agreement, by turning from the truth with blind eyes, deaf ears and mute mouths, well rewarded in the form of salaries.
Desensitized, many care first about money and their own opportunities, and then, maybe then, about the missing children, if that doesn’t risk their job security. At the same time, many people make money from children, as we have noted.
That 323,000, was out of a total of 448,000 children that ICE had transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) or the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). The IG’s report explains that of the 323,000 children missing, 32,000 failed to appear at their immigration court hearing. The remaining 291,000 were not even issued with Notice to Appear (NTA) by ICE.
An unbelievable 90,000 of the unaccompanied children that crossed the border in 2021, three years ago, still do not have a date to appear in court. That is a shocking 72% of all unaccompanied children, who are currently unaccounted for in the immigration system and very little is being done to locate them and check upon their safety.
The IG’s report conclusion is chilling; “Based on our Audit and according to ICE officials, UCs who did not appear in immigration court are considered more at risk for trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor…. HHS personnel are unable to determine if UCs need wellness checks or post release services for individuals at an increased risk of being trafficked. Without an ability to monitor the location and status of UC’s, ICE has no assurance UCs are safe from trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor. “
The child may become detached from their parents on the long trek north, or in some cases, the parent may pass their child to a courier who will take them across the border. In other circumstances, children are trafficked across the border by coyotes for illicit purposes. Typically, the child has the name and contact number of a relative in the US who may act as a sponsor. Sometimes, that sponsor is a person linked to organized crime, a cartel or gang.
That process requires ORR to identify a qualified sponsor, who will normally be a family member or a close relative. The child will then be handed a Notice to Appear before being released to the sponsor. After release to the sponsor, ORR is required to continue support to the child and the sponsor.
All the children missing will have been placed by ORR with a sponsor, but it is estimated that as little as 40% of unaccompanied children find their way to their parents. The remainder may face a bleak future of trafficking, exploitation, forced labor and worse.
The sponsor is the key to the child’s future. However, the IG’s report highlighted that in 16% of cases, the required safety checks on sponsors were not documented by ORR. In a further 19% of cases there were no results for FBI fingerprint checks or child abuse / neglect checks. Those grossly negligent errors were compounded by issues with the legibility of a sponsor’s ID and the failure of ORR to conduct home studies. It is hard to fathom how children have inexplicably been failed by the system.
It is as if the government just does not care what happens to these children. It is not surprising then that gangs such as MS 13 and 18th Street have exploited the vulnerabilities in the vetting system for sponsors.
She continued “They knew they had a problem…They could have easily changed the system to make it safe for children. And instead, they decided to silence me when I brought these concerns. These are grave concerns.”
Ask yourself why gangs would be interested in unaccompanied children, and you will realize it is not for the benefit of the child. DHS and HHS, through their gross misconduct, have put children in harm’s way. They are complicit in this atrocity.
What happens to the children is open to speculation. Some children will simply just stay with loved ones and remain outside the system. However, less fortunate children will be found working in fields or factories, perhaps paying off their fee to the coyotes that smuggled them to the US border.
It will come as no surprise that the problem has become far worse under the Biden administration. In 2020, 30,557 unaccompanied children were encountered at the border. By 2021, that number had risen to 144,834, a 357% increase.
During that same period ICE and ORR employment numbers and funding did not reflect a similar increase, nor was their investment to improve and automate processes. The system has been overrun by political decisions relating to the open border.
Politics – and corruption and greed – has put 323,000 children’s lives at risk. And yet, little is discussed in public regarding this grave issue.
He did not comment on the open border policy of the Biden Administration as being a critical factor. He further explained that “We are rebuilding those orderly systems both in Mexico, in close partnerships with the Mexican government, and in the countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.” He knew of the number involved as far back as 2021, he knew of the problem, but he did nothing to make the system prioritize the safety of the children.
Similarly, Secretary Becerra of HHS was aware of the increase in the number of the unaccompanied children that Democrat policies had led. In 2021, the issues were clearly explained to the Secretary.
As a Politico article from 16th April 2021 states “Biden aides led by Domestic Policy chief Susan Rice and Amy Pope, a Senior Adviser on migration hired to help direct the administration’s border response, have pressed the health department in meetings over the past several weeks to pick up the pace, warning that the influx of unaccompanied children is only likely to accelerate into the spring and early summer.”
The article continues, ‘“He did not fully appreciate the issue when he first came in,” said one senior administration official. “It’s been a steep learning curve for him.”’ Politico’s piece highlights that Becerra has his fingerprints all over this problem.
“Mark Weber, an HHS spokesperson, conceded that there have been tensions within the administration over the effort, but disputed criticisms of Becerra‘s role as inaccurate and unfair. “Suggesting he doesn’t have a grasp on the issue … that is not apparent from the inside,” he said, adding that Becerra is deeply engaged and meets several times a day with his senior leadership team to discuss the increase in migrant children at the border. “You don’t get to be nominated to be HHS secretary unless you know what’s going on.”’
It was only with the IG’s report in August this year, that the epic failures within DHS and HHS have come to light. While some mainstream media attention has been drawn to the issue, the focus has been on the system and not the politicians or the politicians that created, and then failed to adequately manage, the problem.
The LA Times and to a greater extent the New York Times, have covered the story but with a focus on systemic issues and the challenges facing the children, rather than seeking accountability or even the location and status of the children involved. That was quite the departure from the approach when children were detained in ‘cages’ under the Trump Administration when those publications were calling for heads to roll.
During a congressional hearing, Senator Grassley pushed Secretary Becerra on why information regarding the children has not been passed to law enforcement so that they may follow up. The number of children still lost in the system demonstrates the hollowness of Becerra’s “obligation to respond to law enforcement.”
Having failed to follow the rules has put hundreds of thousands of children’s lives at risk.Becerra was more concerned about the privacy of sponsors than he was of the kids’ safety. He was more mindful of gang members’ privacy and the rights of illegal immigrants who might be deported if they were to interact with law enforcement, than he was for the safety of the minors. Becerra’s political dogma condemns the children to untold harm.
The abject failure of the Biden government, and especially HHS, to protect children has been a constant throughout the Biden administration’s term. Besides a few pieces that highlighted systemic issues within ICE and ORR, there has been little from mainstream media to highlight the atrocious treatment faced by unaccompanied children. The legacy of such failure will long be a stain on the Democratic Party’s and the MSM’s ideology. The US government has been an enabler for trafficking, exploitation and forced labor for four years. They have children’s blood on their hands.
This inanimate object below, this wall that so many thought was such a horrific thing to build, if completed before the Biden Harris Border Bonanza, would have prevented the loss of the 300 thousand plus children now unaccounted for. The wall protects those within and those outside.
With a new administration now waiting in the wings, one can only hope that events can now be set in place to locate the children, so that they may formally face the immigration process. Law enforcement must be empowered and helped, rather than thwarted, by HHS. Irrespective of their immigration status these children need our protection. And of course, we need to secure a border so that this problem does not continue to grow and cannot happen again.
Our Country, Our Children
OUR COUNTRY OUR CHILDREN
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Sources
Border fiasco spurs a blame game inside Biden world – POLITICO
DHS Secretary Mayorkas defends handling of border surge, tells migrants not to come now
Grassley Highlights Exploitation and Abuse of Migrant Children During Senate Roundtable
Grassley Delivers Opening Remarks at Roundtable on Abuse of Unaccompanied Migrant Children
Grassley Goes Head-to-Head with HHS Secretary on Immigration and Rural Health Care
Grassley Scrutinizes HHS’s Improper Care of Unaccompanied Migrant Children
