Sen. Hawley confronts Biden administration over missing migrant children

AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

Republican Senator Josh Hawley has taken the Biden Administration to task for their apparent lack of awareness on the condition of Unaccompanied Alien Children (UACs) once they enter the country.

Hawley questioned Robin Dunn Marcos, the Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, highlighting an alarming uptick in the trafficking of migrant children during the tenure of U.S. President Joe Biden.

According to a New York Times report, the Department of Health and Human Services has lost touch with roughly 85,000 UACs following their release to adult sponsors.

"How many kids, right now, of the 430,000 approximately unaccompanied children who have crossed the border under this administration — it’s an astounding number — how many are you in regular contact with right now?” Hawley questioned the official.

After attempting to evade responding to the question, Marcos answered: "I don’t have the specific number."

Hawley replied: "How can you not know? Why would you come to this hearing and not know?"

The Biden Admin is effectively releasing unaccompanied minors at our southern border to human traffickers.

The collateral damage this president’s open border has caused is disgusting. pic.twitter.com/gcvPZkMraj

— Senator Hawley Press Office (@SenHawleyPress) October 26, 2023

The Senator pressed the director further during their heated exchange. "Respectfully, I would like you to do your job and not release children to human traffickers. Respectfully, that’s what I would like. I would like you to not facilitate the largest child trafficking ring in American history," said Hawley.

In addition, Marcos did not provide any detailed information on the number of background checks conducted on adult sponsors.

"Do you do home visits in these cases where you can actually see where these children are being released, whose care you’re putting them in?" Hawley asked to which Marcos responded: "We do not do home visits in all cases."

"Do you really think that you are helping these children by releasing them to labor traffickers and yes, sex traffickers?" Hawley further noted.

He added: "85,000 children, whom you have no contact with, and your answer is — we gave them a presentation before we turned them over to these people who are exploiting them on a scale not seen in this country for 100 years."