Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has released alarming internal records from the Biden administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), revealing that the HHS knowingly placed two unaccompanied migrant children into a household linked to the infamous MS-13 gang.
These records were obtained through whistleblower disclosures from former HHS Unaccompanied Children (UC) program staff.
Grassley, a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and co-chair of the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus, also shared a referral he made to federal law enforcement, which includes evidence suggesting potential child trafficking within the HHS’ UC program.
“HHS, Congress, and the American people must face the facts: HHS’ UC program has glaring defects that are harming innocent children,” Grassley stated.
“The records I’m releasing today are the kind the government fights tooth and nail to withhold from the public, and they ought to send a chill up every person’s spine. I’m not going to stop fighting until the UC program is fixed, and HHS and its contractors end their obstruction and fully respond to my oversight requests. I’m also doing everything in my power to ensure federal law enforcement leaves no stone unturned in the pursuit of justice for lost and abused unaccompanied kids,” he added.
The records reveal that on September 3, 2021, an HHS UC staff member attempted to stop the transfer of a female unaccompanied minor to a sponsor with previous romantic ties to an MS-13 gang member. HHS officials disregarded concerns about the sponsor’s MS-13 connections and transferred the girl to the flagged sponsor the next day.
The records also show the staff member’s ongoing efforts to prevent the sponsor’s unaccompanied minor son from being sent to the same household. The boy’s father was an active member of the MS-13 gang and had been sentenced to a lengthy prison term for gang-related crimes. Despite the staff member’s warnings, HHS again dismissed the concerns and transferred the boy.
These records support whistleblower statements presented during a Senate roundtable this week. The whistleblower who raised the MS-13-related sponsor concerns in September 2021 was subsequently removed from the case, had her credentials revoked, and was escorted off her work site by a senior HHS official.
On January 23, 2024, Grassley sent a referral packet to the FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) citing HHS UC records indicating potential labor and sex trafficking. The referral was supported by government files related to thousands of unaccompanied children processed through the Pomona, California Emergency Intake Site (EIS) and traced cases of possible trafficking nationwide.
The referral outlines multiple instances where unaccompanied minors, primarily from Central America, were sent to households with poorly-vetted and suspicious sponsors. In one case, over 50 unaccompanied minors were sent to the same address. Many sponsors submitted seemingly fraudulent documents to prove their relationship with the children they received.
DHS has contacted Grassley’s office in response to the referral, but the FBI has yet to provide substantive updates.
Grassley emphasized the need for immediate action to protect unaccompanied children from harm and to hold HHS accountable for its failures.