Lankford, Grassley Move to Overturn Biden Admin Rule Enabling Abuse of Unaccompanied Migrant Children

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), along with their colleagues, introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapprovalto strike down the Biden Administration’s rule endangering the safety and wellbeing of unaccompanied alien children. The CRA would force meaningful reforms to the government’s Unaccompanied Children (UC) program. 

“President Biden’s action opened the border on day one and handed control over to cartels and traffickers, allowing them to profit off of exploiting children. Now, the Administration’s rollback of vetting requirements makes the cartels’ job even easier by releasing children into the care of criminals, abusers, and drug users. This disregard for the wellbeing of children is horrific. I am joining my colleagues in Congress to put a stop to the chaos at the border created by this Administration,” said Lankford.

“The Biden Administration ignored warnings from Congress and the Inspector General that its policies put children at risk and instead moved to finalize its current rule. Biden’s Health and Human Services Department has lost tens of thousands of vulnerable kids and handed over many others to abusers and criminals. This exploitation is one of the most heartbreaking tragedies the Biden Border Crisis has created. Since the Biden Administration has refused to lift a finger to fix this problem, it’s now up to Congress to put a stop to it,” Grassley said.

The resolution is cosponsored by Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senators Joe Manchin (I-WV), John Cornyn (R-TX), Ted Budd (R-NC), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Jim Risch (R-ID), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Mike Braun (R-IN), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Steve Daines (R-MT), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Cindy Hyde-Smith, (R-MS), John Kennedy (R-LA), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Thom Tillis (R-NC), J.D. Vance (R-OH), Todd Young (R-IN), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Rick Scott (R-FL), John Hoeven (R-ND), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Katie Britt (R-AL), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Mike Lee (R-UT), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Mike Rounds (R-SD), John Barrasso (R-WY), John Thune (R-SD), John Boozman (R-AR) and Tim Scott (R-SC). 

Background:

Migrant children who enter the US illegally without an adult are detained and placed in the Unaccompanied Children (UC) program, run by the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). HHS’s UC program is intended to reunify unaccompanied migrant children with family members or other trusted adult sponsors residing in the US. The federal government pays contractors and grantees billions of taxpayer dollars to operate the UC program and enforce HHS’s negligent policies.  

The HHS rule the Senators are seeking to overturn, which was finalized in April, codifies harmful practices, including:  

• Lax or optional sponsor vetting;
• Refusal to consider a sponsor’s criminal record, including illegal drug use, history of abuse or neglect, or other necessarily disqualifying child welfare concerns;   
• Refusal to share a sponsor’s immigration status with law enforcement; 
• Weak standards for post-release home studies to determine a child’s status or safety once in the custody of a sponsor; and
• Restrictions on whistleblowers’ rights to disclose to Congress and the HHS Inspector General (IG) information on wrongdoing and misconduct in the program. 

Text of the resolution is here. 

In December, Lankford and Grassley sent a letter with their colleagues condemning HHS’s then-Proposed Rule as “wholly unworkable.” The Senators urged HHS to “discard [the rule] and its current practices” or face a resolution of disapproval. 

Lankford has previously called out HHS for promoting abortions for minors crossing the border, and also introduced the No Taxpayer Funds for Illegal Alien Abortions Act to prohibit any employee or contractor with US Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) or HHS from transporting any illegal immigrant across state lines for the purpose of procuring an abortion.

###