After a group of 22 Republican attorneys general, including Virginia’s Jason Miyares, sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security demanding answers on the trafficking of migrant children, Miyares is reaching out to the White House.
Miyares is challenging the Biden Administration on the missing migrant children in his letter today to the White House and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Miyares raises alarms about their policies regarding the tens of thousands of missing migrant children and urges the federal government to work with local governments to ensure their safety and welfare.
“The missing migrant children are a serious emergency that is being ignored by the federal government. Vulnerable unaccompanied minors are being dropped off in our cities and counties, and local social services and law enforcement agencies have no idea. How can they protect and check in on children they don’t know are there? We must advance federal, state, and local collaboration in the face of this unprecedented, horrifying crisis. No child should experience the uncertainty and vulnerability that these children are facing,” Miyares said.
Federal policy does not require the Office of Refugee Resettlement to notify local governments, including local law enforcement and social services, when unaccompanied children are placed in their communities. A recent HHS Office of the Inspector General report found unaccompanied migrant children are being released into unsafe situations, like human trafficking, and as many as 85,000 children are unaccounted for.
In Virginia, many of these migrant children have gone missing and law enforcement are struggling due to a lack of coordination and information from the federal government.
Related stories:
Republican AGs demand explanation for unsafe release of migrant children – Augusta Free Press
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Rebecca Barnabi
