Westbank Louisiana News

U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, has called for answers from the Biden administration and its contractor, The Providencia Group (TPG). This comes in response to reports suggesting that unaccompanied children are being released into unsafe environments, including potential instances of human trafficking and forced labor.

As the border crisis continues under President Biden's administration, nearly 400,000 unaccompanied children have illegally entered the United States since 2021. The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), a sub-agency of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is responsible for caring for these children and ensuring they are released to safe and thoroughly vetted sponsors. However, it has been reported that ORR's oversight of the sponsor vetting process has significantly weakened under the current administration. Consequently, there have been numerous disturbing reports of ORR releasing unaccompanied children into deeply unsafe environments.

Senator Cassidy requested information from TPG, a private company contracted by HHS to assist with sponsor vetting and case management for unaccompanied children in ORR custody. Notably, TPG has no prior experience with sponsor vetting and shares common ownership with a defense contractor previously alleged to have mistreated unaccompanied children. After an initial conversation with TPG’s outside counsel, the Committee learned that ORR instructed TPG to refer all inquiries to HHS’ Office of Legislative Affairs. This development is seen as part of a concerning pattern with HHS and ORR obstructing Cassidy’s investigation into child exploitation.

In launching his formal inquiry into TPG, Cassidy also criticized the Biden administration’s obstructionism and demanded that HHS stop hindering his investigation into the safety of vulnerable children.

“This blatant lack of transparency is reprehensible and appears to be part of a coordinated effort to shield the Biden administration from answering for its mistreatment and mishandling of unaccompanied children,” said Dr. Cassidy. “It is difficult to see this as anything other than an attempt to side-step legitimate congressional oversight that would potentially embarrass the Biden administration during an election year.”

For more information, read the full letter to HHS here and TPG here.