U.S. to Spend $50 Million on “Post-Release Services” for Migrant Youths

As part of the red carpet rollout for illegal immigrants the Biden administration is dedicating tens of millions of dollars to provide migrant youths with a multitude of services once they are released from government shelters. This includes medical, educational, legal and an array of other services. American taxpayers will also fund detailed home studies by deploying case managers to conduct intensive in-home engagements and virtual check-ins to ensure the safety and continued support for the young migrants and the families they have been released to. On its face the program for migrant youth—officially labeled Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) by the government—appears to be superior to the system that manages hundreds of thousands of U.S. children in similar situations, such as foster care.

Private and public educational institutions, small businesses, city and county governments, tribal organizations as well as nonprofits will receive government funding to assure UAC are well taken care off. The money will flow through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which is charged with caring for illegal aliens under the age of 18. In a recent grant announcement the agency’s Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) reveals that it will allocate $50 million—and possibly up to $300 million—for the Home Study (HS) and Post-Release Services (PRS) for unaccompanied children. “PRS providers will be charged with a scope of services that includes three levels – virtual check-ins, case management services, and intensive in-home engagements,” the grant document states. “ORR provides Home Studies and PRS nationwide and needs HS/PRS providers to serve both high-need and remote locations where sponsors of unaccompanied children reside.” The agency encourages providers located in or near geographic areas where UAC are commonly unified with sponsors to apply.

HHS has spent a fortune to care for the onslaught of mostly Central American youths that have crossed into the U.S. through the Mexican border. Typically those under 18 are welcomed with open arms and hundreds of thousands have entered the country in the last few years. HHS spends billions of dollars annually to house, medically treat, entertain, and school UAC and the agency funds and oversees dozens of state-licensed care facilities to house the young migrants when they arrive in the U.S. As of January 27, 2023, there are approximately 7,565 UAC in HHS care, according to the latest agency figures. In fiscal year 2021 ORR housed an unprecedented 122,731 UAC. In fiscal year 2022, a record 149,000 UAC were apprehended by federal agents. The overwhelming majority of UAC in U.S. custody, approximately 72%, are over 14 years of age and 66% are male. Nearly half (47%) came from Guatemala, 32% from Honduras, 13% from El Salvador and 8% from other countries.

Since illegal immigrant minors are almost always allowed to remain in the U.S. and are quickly disbursed to a government-funded shelter upon arrival at the border, security screening is dismal. The flawed system has allowed hardcore criminals and violent gangbangers to slip through. For instance, a teenage Salvadoran gang member recently arrested for the murder of a Maryland woman came to the U.S. as a UAC. A few years ago two UAC were charged with raping a 14-year-old girl in the bathroom of a Maryland public high school. The illegal immigrants were both charged with first-degree rape and two counts of first-degree sexual offense. Both were in the ninth grade like their victim. One came from El Salvador and the other from Guatemala. A year earlier two UAC, both 17, from Central America executed a Massachusetts man by shooting him in the head shortly after being welcomed into the U.S. by the Obama administration. Both had ties to the notoriously violent street gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), authorities disclosed at the time. The media described the violent gangbangers as “baby-faced boys.”

Shortly after the first batch of UAC arrived in mid-2014, Judicial Watch reported that many had ties to gang members in the U.S., specifically MS-13. Homeland Security sources directly involved with the border crisis told Judicial Watch that street gangs, including MS-13, went on a recruiting frenzy at U.S. shelters housing the migrant youths and Red Cross phones were used to communicate. The MS-13 is a feared street gang of mostly Central American illegal immigrants that has spread throughout the U.S. and is renowned for drug distribution, murder, rape, robbery, home invasions, kidnappings, vandalism, and other violent crimes. The Justice Department’s National Gang Intelligence Center (NGIC) says criminal street gangs like the MS-13 are responsible for most violent crimes in the U.S. and are the primary distributors of most illicit drugs.