Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra recently testified before Congress that “over 300,000” unaccompanied migrant children have been released into the U.S. during President Joe Biden’s tenure.
https:/youtube.com/watch?v=TOme3B9vmHU
Becerra pointed out the figures resembling the number of foreign children that have been released into America as illegal immigration soars to unprecedented levels. Many of the migrant children have not been released to their home countries.
While speaking before the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee about his department’s budget for 2025, Becerra quoted the number of children released, including those going to unrelated adults.
Becerra did not provide a figure when Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) asked him how many of the migrant children his department followed up on after they were released to sponsors.
“It’s not a statutory obligation, but we make a commitment to try to follow up with every child that we place with at least three phone calls to this child and three phone calls to this sponsor,” Becerra said.
The numbers that Becerra shared mirrored reports from the HHS’ website, which pointed out that nearly 400,000 children were released to sponsors since October 2020 during then-President Donald Trump’s tenure.
Data released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) showed that over 464,000 unaccompanied migrant children were detained at the border during Biden’s presidency thus far. Many of the minors arrived after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) refused to send them back to Mexico as the Trump administration did during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Border Crisis: Unaccompanied migrant children in US custody tops record high 20,000 – https://t.co/f3bn3kU2YP pic.twitter.com/PJ7lrvltH7
— Sara A. Carter (@SaraCarterDC) April 10, 2021
Under Biden, 125,000-150,000 children have arrived yearly in the U.S., marking an increase from 2014 under former President Barack Obama and Trump.
Newsmax pointed out that the unaccompanied minors are taken into custody by Border Patrol before HHS assumes control of them in 72 hours.
Given Biden’s refusal to tackle the ongoing issue, cities have been forced to establish areas to shelter the migrant children. To speed up the process, HHS has eased its vetting requirements and its analysis of sponsors. Potential sponsors undergo criminal public record checks, but household members are not screened.
When a child is released into the U.S., they may remain until immigration court proceedings occur, which, at times, can take decades.
