North Houston News

Congressman Morgan Luttrell has taken a stand regarding the safety and wellbeing of unaccompanied migrant children in the United States. In a letter addressed to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra and Office of Refugee Resettlement Director Robin Dunn Marcos, Congressman Luttrell expressed serious concerns over the Office of Refugee Settlement’s (ORR) failure to ensure the safety of these vulnerable children.

According to Congressman Luttrell, the ORR's current methods have led to the exploitation and trafficking of unaccompanied migrant children. He highlighted that caseworkers are rushing to move children out of government custody and placing them in the hands of improperly vetted sponsors, resulting in instances where children are being subjected to dangerous situations that violate child labor laws.

The Congressman's letter pointed out alarming statistics from a report by the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG). He stated, “More specifically, the HHS-OIG report revealed 16 percent of unaccompanied children’s case files were absent of documentation indicating one or more required safety checks for sponsors were conducted. Furthermore, ORR also failed to conduct timely Safety and Well-Being Follow Up Calls in 22 percent of cases with 19 percent of children being released to sponsors with pending fingerprint check or child abuse and neglect registry check.”

In response to these issues, Congressman Luttrell introduced the Stop Human Trafficking of Unaccompanied Migrant Children Act, which aims to ensure that necessary steps are taken by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services when placing unaccompanied alien children with potential sponsors in the United States. This legislation comes after reports revealed that HHS had been unable to contact 85,000 children in the past two years.

The full content of Congressman Luttrell's letter can be accessed for further details on the concerns raised regarding the safety and wellbeing of unaccompanied migrant children.