Federal officials lose track of nearly 1500 migrant children in US
Federal officials lose track of nearly 1500 migrant children in US
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April 27, 2018
In 2017, federal officials lost track of nearly 1,500 unaccompanied migrant children after placing them in the homes of adult sponsors, officials from the Department of Health and Human Services told the Senate on Thursday.
According to HHS, limited budgets for tracking migrant children after they are placed in foster homes led to the department losing contact with as many as 1,475 children who could not be accounted for after HHS officials attempted to perform welfare checks on them.
Between October and December of 2017, HHS officials completed welfare checks on 7,635 migrant children who the agency had placed with adult sponsors in the U.S. The Hill reported, “Of those 7,635 children, 6,075 were still living with their sponsors, 28 had run away, five had been deported and 52 were living with someone else.”
HHS admitted that the remaining migrant children were completely unaccounted for.
Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Wisconsin gave the HHS until Monday to deliver to Congress a time frame during which it will improve its monitoring capabilities.
“These kids, regardless of their immigration status, deserve to be treated properly, not abused or trafficked,” said Portman. “This is all about accountability.”
Other lawmakers at the Senate subcommittee hearing accused HHS officials of negligence.
“You are the worst foster parents in the world. You don’t even know where they are,” said Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D. “We are failing. I don’t think there is any doubt about it. And when we fail kids that makes me angry.”
Officials also testified in the hearing that although HHS has been unable to locate all migrant children supposedly under the care of the agency, it does assist the Department of Homeland Security in executing its deportation initiatives.
“DHS has worked closely with the Trump administration and members of Congress to address existing ‘loopholes’ that allow individuals to exploit our immigration laws,” said DHS undersecretary James McCament.
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