Did the Biden administration drop the ball on protecting vulnerable migrant children?
According to Breitbart, Federal data uncovered by the Center for Immigration Studies reveals that during the first two years of Joe Biden’s presidency, the Department of Health and Human Services, under Xavier Becerra, lost contact with nearly half of all Unaccompanied Alien Children released to adult sponsors across the United States, leaving their safety and whereabouts unknown.
Between January 1, 2021, and December 31, 2023, a staggering 112,872 children were unaccounted for just 30 days after being placed with sponsors, according to CIS researcher Colin Farnsworth, painting a grim picture of oversight gone awry.
Looking at the broader scope, HHS data for fiscal years 2021 and 2022, covering the period from October 1, 2020, to September 30, 2023, show that 235,249 unaccompanied minors were handed over to sponsors nationwide during the same timeframe.
Crunching the numbers from a CIS Freedom of Information Act request, roughly 48 percent of these children slipped through the cracks, with HHS unable to confirm their well-being or location. This statistic should set off alarm bells for any administration.
The CIS report suggests a troubling rush to place these kids, often with adults who weren’t their biological parents, without the kind of follow-up that common sense, let alone policy, demands.
Adding fuel to the fire, a report released in August by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, exposed that over 11,000 of these children were placed with sponsors who weren’t parents or even relatives, and shockingly, hadn’t been vetted through basic fingerprint or background checks.
This isn’t just bureaucratic red tape; it’s a glaring gap in safeguarding some of the most defenseless among us, raising questions about whether speed was prioritized over security.
From a conservative standpoint, this reeks of a progressive agenda pushing open-border policies without the backbone to handle the fallout—though one must acknowledge the complexity of managing such a crisis humanely.
Current HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. didn’t hold back in his critique, addressing Congress in May with a damning assessment of his predecessor’s approach. “My predecessor was deliberately employing a policy of speed over safety, so they waived all of the identification requirements for sponsors,” Kennedy stated.
He continued, “Sponsors were not required to show valid identification; they were never fingerprinted, so we don’t know if there’s a criminal record. There was no DNA testing, so the claims that they were taking a family member were … they were dubious.” Let’s be real—waiving basic checks isn’t compassion; it’s negligence dressed up as efficiency.
The absence of even rudimentary vetting, like ID verification or genetic confirmation to ensure familial ties, is a policy misstep that could have dire consequences for children already in precarious situations.
For those of us who value strong borders and stronger protections, this data is a wake-up call to demand accountability, not just point fingers, because these kids deserve better than being lost in a system overwhelmed by its own shortcuts. The numbers—112,872 unaccounted for out of 235,249—aren’t just statistics; they represent real lives potentially at risk, a reality that transcends political divides and begs for immediate reform.
While the impulse to expedite placements may stem from a desire to help, the lack of follow-through undercuts any noble intent, leaving a conservative mind to wonder if unchecked idealism has once again paved a road to unintended harm—surely, safety must trump speed every time.