Bill Cassidy - Ranking Member of the Senate HELP Committee | Official U.S. Senate headshot
Bill Cassidy - Ranking Member of the Senate HELP Committee | Official U.S. Senate headshot
U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Ron Johnson (R-WI) will host a roundtable on Tuesday, July 9, at 2:30 p.m. ET to address the exploitation of unaccompanied migrant children. The event, titled “The Exploitation Crisis: How the U.S. Government is Failing to Protect Migrant Children from Trafficking and Abuse,” aims to scrutinize the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR)’s Unaccompanied Children (UC) program.
Senator Cassidy has been investigating the Biden administration’s handling of unaccompanied children since 2023, focusing on issues related to forced labor and human trafficking.
Witnesses at the roundtable will include whistleblowers from the HHS UC program, Florida Department of Children and Families Secretary Shevaun Harris, and criminology expert Dr. Jarrod Sadulski.
Since 2021, over 500,000 unaccompanied children have entered the United States illegally. Reports indicate that under the Biden administration, ORR has reduced its oversight measures for these children. A 2022 report by HHS’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) highlighted that weakened vetting requirements have compromised ORR's ability to protect children from trafficking and exploitation.
Additionally, a recent report by HHS OIG found multiple instances where ORR failed to adhere to its own sponsor vetting protocols. The findings included a lack of required background checks in 16 percent of cases and failure to conduct timely safety follow-up calls in 22 percent of cases.
The roundtable will be held at Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 608.
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