CHARLESTON, W.Va. – This week, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) joined 42 bicameral Republican colleagues—led by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)—in a letter urging President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to work with Congress to root out abuses in their administration’s unaccompanied migrant children program and stop the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)’s cover-up of the crisis.

“[The Biden-Harris HHS] must stop its cover-up and cooperate with law enforcement and Congress to end this crisis and protect unaccompanied children and the American people,” the lawmakers wrote.

BACKGROUND:

Program Abuse:

More than 500,000 unaccompanied migrant children have crossed the southwest border under the Biden-Harris administration, while cartel trafficking activity surged an estimated 2,500%. Amid this crisis, the lawmakers note that the Biden-Harris administration limited background checks for sponsors of unaccompanied children, cut back on familial DNA testing at the border, and decreased information sharing with law enforcement.

In addition to hampering DHS’s child exploitation investigation, the Biden-Harris administration blatantly ignored oversight conducted by Congress and the Office of the Inspector General. In December 2023, Senator Capito joined Senator Grassley and 37 other Republican colleagues in sending a letter to the Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and the Acting Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children and Families asking the agencies to discard a Proposed Rule that abdicated ORR’s responsibility protecting the vulnerable children in its custody from harmful behavior by poorly vetted, potential criminals. This Proposed Rule was finalized in April 2024, and in response Senator Capito joined her Republican colleagues in introducing a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval to strike down this negligent and dangerous rule.

Seeking Solutions:

The lawmakers are urging President Biden and Vice President Harris to “make changes to [their] policies and procedures” in order to “end this public safety crisis.” They are specifically calling on the Biden-Harris administration to enhance information sharing with law enforcement and Congress, fully cooperate with DHS’s child exploitation investigation, and thoroughly respond to all congressional oversight requests.

Full text of the bicameral letter can be found here.

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