(TargetLiberty.org) – On Tuesday, Republicans grilled the director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) at a House oversight hearing about the recent reports of children being released and finding themselves in unsafe conditions, including child labor cases.
Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wisc.), the chair of the House Oversight Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs, claimed that in part the problem was caused by Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, who had “pushed to instill a culture at ORR that prioritizes ‘assembly line’ speed in releasing unaccompanied alien children to poorly vetted sponsors across the country to the detriment of children’s safety.”
ORR Director Robin Dunn Marcos has stated that her office needs to release children to sponsors “without undue delay,” and that in order to deal with their backlog they have loosened some of the vetting requirements. However, she asserted that despite this the screening process continued to be thorough, and pointed out that the agency does not continue to keep track of where the children are following their release. The ORR does not currently have the authority to remove children who are found in unsafe conditions.
As she added her office “works within the statutes and authority and resources provided.”
Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) called the responses “very unacceptable” and added that children are always viewed slightly differently from adults because they are “dependent upon adults and parents do the right thing.”
Marcos argued that her office was trying to fix the child labor problem.
Copyright 2023, TargetLiberty.org
