FIRST ON FOX: A conservative group is suing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) over documents related to the housing and sheltering of illegal immigrants in the U.S. amid broader concerns about how taxpayer money is being spent on the crisis.
The Center to Advance Security in America (CASA) is suing HHS after it submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking documents about HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement and information about how money has been spent on non-governmental organizations that help migrants.
The FOIA request sought documents “showing the total list of non-governmental organizations that received federal funds from the Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Refugee Resettlement for years FY 2023, and FY 2024 to assist with housing, educational, medical, legal, or other services made available to migrants apprehended at the Southern border.”
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Border Patrol picks up a group of asylum seekers from an aid camp at the U.S.-Mexico border near Sasabe, Ariz., March 13, 2024. (Justin Hamel/Getty Images)
The lawsuit says it is in the public interest “because it will help the public understand whether HHS is using taxpayer dollars consistent with the law and whether appropriate oversight of federal funds provided to non-governmental organizations is in place.”
HHS did not respond to the FOIA, and so the group is suing to get the necessary documents.
“The southern border is out of control, and American communities are being forced to deal with thousands of unvetted migrants pouring over the border each day. ” CASA Director James Fitzpatrick said in a statement.
“The American people are entitled to know specifically how much money taxpayers are spending on non-profit organizations providing social services to illegal migrants. CASA’s FOIA requested this information, and now this lawsuit will force the Office of Refugee Resettlement to provide it for FY 23 and 24 just as they have provided it before.”
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While the Department of Homeland Security is the primary agency dealing with the migrant crisis and the influx of migrants across the southern border, HHS plays a role, particularly in the resettlement of migrant children who come across into the U.S. unaccompanied by an adult.
More than 500,000 unaccompanied alien children (UAC) have crossed the border without a parent or guardian since 2021. When unaccompanied children come to the border, they are turned over by Border Patrol to Health and Human Services (HHS), which will attempt to find them a sponsor within the country, typically a family member.
Lawmakers have regularly been scrutinizing the money going to nonprofits that resettle migrants, and some Republicans see such spending as a misuse of taxpayer money.
Migrants wait in line to enter a shelter as others wait for an appointment with U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, May 23, 2023. (Christian Torres Chavez/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
HHS, meanwhile, has been under particular scrutiny over its handling of resettling migrant children, and Republican lawmakers recently criticized HHS for “rushing” them out of custody and into the hands of sponsors.
A September letter to the White House from Republicans in both chambers claimed the administration has cut back on background checks and vetting procedures as part of an effort to speed up the process. The White House, however, pushed back on the claims.
“The administration has taken action to protect unaccompanied children through exacting sponsor vetting for those caring for unaccompanied children and post-release services for all children in sponsor care,” a White House spokesperson said.
“HHS is also implementing the strongest rule to protect unaccompanied children ever through the Foundational Rule on Unaccompanied Children, which further implements detailed policies and procedures providing for the safe and timely release of unaccompanied children to vetted and approved sponsors, requiring background and criminal records checks for all sponsors and adults residing in the potential sponsor’s household, strengthened post-release services to ensure child well-being and immigration compliance and enhanced standards for private care facilities that house unaccompanied children.
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“It is outrageous that Republican members of Congress are trying to end these protections for children through use of the Congressional Review Act to repeal this critical rule.”
HHS came under the spotlight last year when The New York Times reported on how the agency had been unable to reach 85,000 minors and lost immediate contact with a third of them.
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HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said at that time that the number “doesn’t sound at all to be realistic,” and “what we do is we try and follow up as best we can with these kids.
“Congress has given us certain authorities. Our authorities end when we have found a suitable sponsor to place that child with. We try and do some follow-up, but neither the child nor the sponsor is actually obligated to follow up with us.”