Democrat blocks effort to cut funding to NGOs accused of abusing unaccompanied minors

By Bethany Blankley | Employee at The Center Square

(Worthy News) – Unlike other 90-somethings who celebrate their 91st birthday with family and friends and enjoy their retirement, U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley spent his birthday on the floor of the U.S. Senate, where he stood up for thousands of abused and missing children for more than 30 minutes.

Born in 1933, Grassley is the oldest U.S. senator, the longest-serving Republican in congressional history, and the sixth-longest-serving U.S. senator in history. Only six Democrats in the U.S. Senate have served longer than him. He will likely outlast two longer-serving Democrats, born in the 1880s, by 40-60 days.

“In the Biden-Harris America, children disappear every day. You don’t see their faces on milk cartons. There are no searches for them, and the Amber Alert almost never goes off,” Grassley said. “According to Justice Department documents, some of these children show up years later in emergency rooms with injuries from physical or sexual abuse. Others show up as underage workers working jobs most adults wouldn’t even take, and many are never heard from again. These forgotten children are overlooked because they are ‘unaccompanied migrant children’ brought to the United States without family members.”

Since fiscal year 2021, more than 500,000 UACs without a parent or guardian have been brought to the U.S. and placed in the care of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (HHS ORR). They are being sent to HHS-contracted facilities across the country, with the majority being sent to Texas, California and Florida, The Center Square reported.

Grassley has been demanding accountability for oversight of UACs for 10 years. On his birthday, he pointed to reports showing more than 100,000 missing UACs; Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General audits that revealed neglect and abuse, including failure to screen sponsors and missing children; and UACs being used for child labor.

After HHS whistleblowers came forward with serious allegations, including an alleged cover-up by the Biden-Harris administration, Grassley filed criminal referrals with law enforcement. In a recent lawsuit against an HHS-funded NGO, the DOJ alleges a “pattern or practice of serious or widespread sexual harassment of children” under its care.

“So, we have to ask ourselves, if we’re humanitarians, how many more children have to endure abuse before Congress finally says enough is enough?” Grassley asked. “I say not one more.”

Grassley’s bill, S. 5073, would deny future contracts to facilities identified by the DOJ as abusing UACs. He asked the Senate to pass it by unanimous consent, meaning no roll call vote was required.

“I think this is a very healthy solution that no politician, no member of the Senate — Republican or Democrat — should oppose,” he said.

But one did: U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, killed Grassley’s bill. Instead, he proposed an amendment to codify a Biden-Harris administration proposal that Grassley rejected, arguing it would further endanger UACs.

Merkley said he shared Grassley’s concerns, but then criticized the Trump administration, claiming that children were being separated from their parents as far back as five years ago. Border Patrol agents have explained that cartels are using “fake families” to smuggle and traffic UACs into and through the U.S., The Center Square reported.

Merkley also said Grassley’s “heart is in the right place” and “points out flaws that are very, very real,” but disagreed on a solution. His proposal includes expediting UACs from HHS-contracted facilities, eliminating fingerprint-based background checks and requiring criminal records checks on sponsors, among other measures.

Grassley said his amendment “merely enshrines the Biden-Harris policy” of “simply handing children over to sponsors” without verifying their identity and safety.

Merkley blocked the bill after 158 Democrats in the House of Representatives voted against another bill that would have ensured the deportation of domestic abusers, sex offenders, child molesters and other violent criminals.

U.S. Congressman Andy Biggs, Republican of Arizona, tried to hold ORR’s director accountable by cutting her salary, but 45 Republicans in the House of Representatives joined Democrats in opposing his measure.

Grassley then led a coalition of more than 40 Republicans in the Senate and House of Representatives, again urging President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to hold HHS ORR accountable.

“UACs often experience horrific sexual, physical, and emotional abuse” as they are often smuggled to U.S. borders, “victims of cartel trafficking and exploitation,” the coalition said. Their suffering does not end once they arrive in the U.S., but continues when they are released “into the hands of unchecked sponsors who often continue to exploit and abuse them.”

As the number of UACs arriving in the U.S. increased, ORR significantly “reduced background checks and screening procedures to expedite the process, despite knowing that children were being trafficked through HHS ORR’s UAC program,” according to DHS OIG audits. Information sharing with law enforcement was negligent, ORR was negligent in its care of UACs, failed to comply with Congressional subpoenas, and failed to provide requested information about the whereabouts of UACs to DHS, they allege.

“HHS must end its cover-up and work with law enforcement and Congress to end this crisis and protect unaccompanied children and the American people,” they said.

Reprinted with permission from The Center Square.