According to a new report by the agency’s government guard, the Department of Health and Human Services crossed the border in 2021 in 2021, crossing the border to the border, who were not properly vetted, the concerns that could be exploited.
The office of Inspector General released a 62-page report last week, in which the sponsor screening administered by the Refugee Rehabilitation Office gave details of disturbing intervals, which is under the administration of HHS for children and families.
The OIG report stated, “It is important to protect children from unprotected placements by taking appropriate steps for screen sponsors, while children are released on time and unnecessary delays.” “The age of these children, separation from family, and dangerous journey to the United States make these children weak for especially exploitation.”
OIG findings are based on a random sample of 343 cases from March to April 2021, when the ORR recorded 16,790 children with sponsors.
The report stated, “We admit that ORRs increased to uncontrolled children’s referral during our review period in 2021, which created operational obstacles and obstructed their ability to fulfill their mission,” the report states.
However, the ORR should be prepared to keep children safely with sponsors in future flow, OIG concluded.
During the investigation, the investigation stated that ORR has released children for sponsors who have exploited them and forced them to work in dangerous jobs that violate child labor laws.
However, for the most part, the sponsors are “good, honest people”, Rebecca Brown said, “The interim observer lawyer of the team of uncontrolled minors in a public lawyer in Los Angeles.
Brown said, “We need to keep immigrant children in a safe environment, not immigrant detention facilities, which are shown to children in unsafe conditions.” “We have to make sure that we protect the weakest people among ourselves.”
- Access to California
- Exposed problems
- Recommendations
Access to California
California ranks second in the nation behind Texas who crosses the border with Mexico alone and since 2015, with sponsors over 68,000 with sponsors.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement, “California and our state coalition partners have welcomed almost half of all immigrant children issued from federal immigration custody, and we have a strong interest in protecting their rights and welfare.”
From October to December 2023, the most existing figures are available, 1,101 unaccounted children were kept in Los Angeles County, 200 in Orange County, 160 in Roverside County and 97 in San Bernardino County.
Most of the unacceptable children reaching the US border are from the northern triangle region of Central America, including Guatemala, Honduras and Al Salvador, the National Immigration Forum, a Washington, DC-based advocacy organization. Many children fled from their homeland due to poverty, crime and gang violence.
While statistics suggest that 75% of unacceptable minors are aged 15 to 17 years, it is reported that some children travel alone, are under 6 years of age, Save the Children, according to a connecting non -profit organization.
Exposed problems
Unseen children are those who have no legitimate immigration status in the US, are under 18, and parents or legal parents are not available to provide care and custody. In the custody of any federal agency, including the Homeland Security Department, children should be transferred to ORR within 72 hours, until they are determined to be unmatched, until the circumstances are seen.
ORR by federal law requires that they can make safe and timely placements for unaccounted children in minimal restrictive settings. Children remain in custody until a perfect American sponsor is identified until they become 18 years old, or when their immigration condition is resolved.
“In most cases, the safest place for a child is with their family, and every day when they are unnecessarily separated from them, they can cause permanent damage, Mickey Donovan-Calus said, Mickey Donovan-Kalus, director of legal services for immigrant guards in Los Angeles. Does not let it fall, but we should also protect unnecessary delay in the reunion process. “
The ORR needs to screen the criminal background of potential sponsors, including them that they are listed on sex criminal registries. Some sponsors may also be required to undergo home studies.
The OIG investigation found that 16% of the files of the children’s case had failed to include the documents indicating one or more essential sponsor safety checks. In addition, it was determined that the case files were never updated to 19% of children, which were issued to sponsors with pending FBI fingerprint or state child abuses and registry check neglect.
The report stated, “When the files of the children’s case are not updated with the results of these checks after the release of the children, then the sponsors also have the ability to disrupt the screening completely during the future sponsorship efforts,” the report states. “If these results are not vested in children’s files, then possible safety concerns can be remembered during future sponsorship reviews.”
The members of the ORR staff are also required to ensure that copies of sponsor-produced IDs include a well-found photo, birth certificate or other legal documents. However, OIG found that 35% of cases included ID images that were dark, light, blurred or granulated without visible holograms or watermarks, indicating that they could be fake.
Additionally, OIG found that in 22% of cases the ORR staff did not operate timely security and welfare calls for children kept within the recommended 37-day period.
Recommendations
OIG made several recommendations to improve the process of safely releasing children to children, including:
- The implementation of additional safety measures to ensure that all safety checks are conducted and documented, as necessarily their sponsor to their sponsor before approved the release of a child.
- Development of a reference guide to help the managers of the case better evaluate the identity of sponsors.
- Additional steps are conducted when compulsory home studies are required to ensure.
- Development of an effective monitoring mechanism to identify children that do not receive follow -up calls to sponsors on time after their release.
The administration has agreed with OIG recommendations for children and families.
In a statement, HHS spokesman Jeff Nesbit said that in the last three years, ORR has “extended the sponsor, and the coordination between the HHS and the Labor Department has increased to protect aggressively from any misuse.”
“These changes simultaneously prioritize child welfare and safety, while reducing the time of spending children in a type of care settings – child welfare to release children without unfair delays with the best practices and legal requirements of ORR.”