The United States government is being called out for losing track of hundreds of unaccompanied and undocumented immigrants. These children were placed into sponsored homes, which is typically with a parent or relative, but about 1,500 of those children have not yet been accounted for.
Last month, Steven Wagner, acting assistant secretary for the Administration for Children and Families, told a Senate subcommittee that during the last three months of 2017, the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) tried to contact 7,635 unaccompanied children to check on them, however, the ORR “was unable to determine with certainty the whereabouts of 1,475 children,” according to @CNN.
Still, Wagner says that none of this is their problem! He claims that the Department Of Health and Human Services is not legally responsible for these missing kids. “I understand that it has been HHS’s long-standing interpretation of the law that ORR is not legally responsible for children after they are released from ORR care,” Wagner said.
A spokesman for the Administration for Children and Families also gave a statement reinforcing Wagner’s claim.
“When an unaccompanied alien child is placed with a sponsor, he or she ceases to be in the custody of the US government and all HHS-provided subsistence — food, shelter, clothing, healthcare and education — ends at that point and the child becomes the responsibility of his or her parent, guardian or sponsor,” the statement said.
We will keep you guys updated on this story!
TSR STAFF: Talia O. @theclosetratchet on IG
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/26/politics/hhs-lost-track-1500-immigrant-children/index.html
