WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released a report detailing the Biden-Harris administration’s failures to secure the southern border resulting in the exploitation and abuse of migrant children.
This report comes after Cassidy’s over year-long investigation into the failures at the Biden-Harris Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and the Department of Labor (DOL) to prevent the abuse of unaccompanied children, many of whom have been forced into human trafficking and dangerous labor as a direct result of the administration’s open border policies. The report also examines the Biden-Harris administration’s systematic cover-up of exploitation under its watch, including repeated obstruction of congressional and state investigations.
“Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had the power to prevent the exploitation of children by securing the southern border. Unfortunately, Democrats treated the border crisis as a messaging issue for their presidential campaign rather than address the humanitarian catastrophe that has resulted from failed Biden-Harris policies,” said Dr. Cassidy. “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris failed the American people. President Trump’s victory, along with a Republican sweep of Congress, presents an opportunity to secure our border and roll back the disastrous Democrat policies that put children in harm’s way. I am committed to working with President Trump and my colleagues to get this done.”
“The exploitation of unaccompanied children has been documented for years. The Biden-Harris administration should have fixed its policies to protect these children, but instead it subverted Congress and states to cover up its mistakes,” continued Dr. Cassidy. “This lack of transparency to the American people is reprehensible. It is hard to see this as anything other than an attempt to shield the Biden-Harris administration from accountability.”
Read the full report here.
KEY FINDINGS
The Biden-Harris administration took a number of actions that weakened the sponsor vetting process, putting unaccompanied children in harm’s way.
ORR relies heavily on third-party contractors to conduct case management and sponsor vetting, but engages in very little oversight to ensure accountability.
DOL has a single-minded focus on post-harm enforcement and does not work collaboratively with companies to combat illegal child labor.
The Biden-Harris administration is obstructing congressional and state investigations into the exploitation and trafficking of unaccompanied children.
###
For all news and updates from HELP Republicans, visit our website or Twitter at @GOPHELP. Click here to unsubscribe.