Capito moves to overturn Biden rule enabling abuse of unaccompanied migrant children

U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) and a member of the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, recently joined a group of senators — led by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa — to introduce a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval in an attempt to strike down a Biden administration’s rule that Capito says is endangering the safety and wellbeing of unaccompanied migrant children.

The CRA would force meaningful reforms to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Unaccompanied Children program, according to Capito.

“President Biden’s disastrous policies have made our southern border incredibly dangerous, especially for children who are on their own,” Capito said. “The rule that my colleagues and I are attempting to overturn puts the most vulnerable, unaccompanied minors, in harm’s way by letting people take them into custody without making their safety a priority. This is a bad policy and I am proud to join my colleagues to reverse it.”

Migrant children who enter the U.S. illegally without an adult are detained and placed in the UC program, run by the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement, according to Capito’s office.

Health and Human Services’ Unaccompanied Children program is intended to reunify unaccompanied migrant children with family members or other trusted adult sponsors residing in the U.S.

Capito said the rule she is 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.

Biden issued an executive order on the southern border earlier this month that would limit asylum processing once encounters with migrants between ports of entry reach 2,500 per day. It went into effect immediately because the latest figures were far higher, at about 4,000 daily, according to The Associated Press.

The restrictions under Biden’s executive order would be in effect until two weeks after those daily encounter numbers are at or below 1,500 per day, under a seven-day average.