'Serious Disregard For These Children's Welfare': Biden Admin Policies Could Place Migrant Kids in Homes With Sex Offenders

The Biden administration’s attempts to implement a more humane immigration 
policy are leading it to hand migrant children over to American adults who 
haven’t submitted to background checks, according to a Senate report 
obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. That has made those kids 
vulnerable to everything from being placed in the custody of legal 
guardians who have a history of child neglect to living in homes with 
registered sex offenders.

The report, from Sen. Rob Portman (R., Ohio) and Republican members of the 
Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, paints a 
devastating picture of how the Biden administration has mismanaged the 
southern border, which has seen more than 2.5 million crossings since he 
took office. Biden’s attempt to strike a contrast on immigration with his 
predecessor may have backfired, putting in danger thousands of minors who 
have now lost contact with federal authorities, according to the report.

In an effort to reverse Trump administration policies that President Joe 
Biden characterized on the campaign trail as cruel and inhumane, many 
unaccompanied alien children who come into the custody of American 
officials are now handed over to adults in the United States without any 
vetting, the report says. Those background checks would verify, among 
other things, that alien children are not given to guardians who are on 
the sex offender registry.

Few executive actions under former president Donald Trump drew more ire 
from the media and left-wing activists than his "family separation 
policy." That policy, which ordered law enforcement to separate children 
from illegal alien parents apprehended at the southern border was meant to 
deter future illegal border crossings. But Biden, who, according to the 
Senate report, is overseeing an immigration system that is reducing 
"protections for [unaccompanied alien] children against abuse and 
trafficking," has avoided the same level of scrutiny from the press and 
Democrats.

Federal agencies responsible for releasing children into the custody of a 
legal guardian in the United States, such as HHS and the Office of Refugee 
Resettlement, told Senate Republicans that they do not believe they are 
responsible for "protecting unaccompanied alien children from abuse and 
trafficking after placement with a sponsor." That shocking admission, the 
report states, is a "plain" contradiction of the agencies’ statutory 
obligations.

"[Health and Human Services has refused] to implement systems designed to 
ensure the safe release of children and accept legal responsibility for 
unaccompanied alien children after they are paired with a sponsor, as 
required by law," the report states.

Reversing his predecessor’s hawkish immigration policies has been a 
priority for Biden from the start. Some of his first actions as president 
targeted the southern border, such as a February 2021 executive order that 
required "agencies to conduct a top-to-bottom review of recent 
regulations, policies, and guidance that have set up barriers to our legal 
immigration system." That move, followed by others announced the next 
month, were, Biden said, part of a strategy to create a "fair, safe, and 
orderly immigration system."

The practice of waiving background checks for adults who take in alien 
children began shortly thereafter as the Biden administration prioritized 
the identification of adult caregivers in order to avoid keeping children 
in holding facilities or returning them to their home countries.

It also meant that federal authorities often knew very little about the 
people taking in alien children. HHS released nearly 73,000 unaccompanied 
alien children to sponsors in the 2021 fiscal year but completed fewer 
than 6,500 checks with state child abuse and neglect registries, the 
report says. If a potential sponsor refuses a background check, federal 
guidelines under the Biden administration dictate that authorities may 
still release a child to that individual.

"Caring for unaccompanied alien children, children at significant risk of 
labor and sex trafficking and abuse, should be one of the top priorities 
of the United States government," the report states. "Yet, this 
investigation reveals actions by the Biden administration that show the 
opposite—serious disregard for these children’s welfare."

Although a record number of unaccompanied alien minors crossed the border 
in 2021, the federal government completed fewer child abuse and neglect 
checks than in the 2019 fiscal year, federal data show. Nor does HHS 
"adequately verify a sponsor’s identity and relationship with a child," by 
offering little guidance to case managers who are in charge of placing 
children in a domestic household, according to the report.

The Senate report includes a list of recommendations that would better 
protect migrant alien children, including the bipartisan Responsibility 
for Unaccompanied Minors Act. That law, Senate Republicans argue, would 
require HHS to create more sophisticated tracking and care systems for 
unaccompanied minor children. HHS would also be obligated to end the 
custody agreement between a sponsor and child if there is proof of abuse 
or neglect.

"Without acknowledging its responsibility, correcting these issues, and 
better vetting potential sponsors, the Biden administration cannot ensure 
the safety of unaccompanied alien children," the report states.

Published under: Biden Administration, Border Crisis, HHS, Immigration, 
Rob Portman, Sex Offender

https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/serious-disregard-for-these-
childrens-welfare-biden-admin-policies-could-place-migrant-kids-in-homes-
with-sex-offenders/