HHS Earmarks Millions of Dollars to Give Illegal Immigrant Minors Long Term Foster Care

It is not enough that American taxpayers spend billions of dollars annually to “temporarily” care for the onslaught of illegal immigrant minors that cross into the U.S. through the Mexican border until they get released to relatives or sponsors. Now the Biden administration is quietly doling out tens of millions more for long-term foster care through fiscal year 2024. The money will go to providers that will give Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) with no family in the U.S. continuing “quality care in a community setting.” The accommodations will focus on migrants up to 17 years of age, including pregnant and parenting teens and those who are “especially vulnerable or with other special needs,” according to the Department of Health and Human Services, the agency distributing the money. The allocation comes just weeks after Judicial Watch reported that the government is spending $50 million on “post-release” services for the never-ending influx of migrant youths.

HHS is responsible for underage migrants and the agency, through its handsomely funded Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), has spent a fortune to care for the mobs of mostly Central American youths that have crossed into the U.S. through the Mexican border in the last few years. Because those under 18 are welcomed with open arms hundreds of thousands have entered the country in the last few years and HHS spends billions of dollars annually to house, medically treat, entertain, and school UAC when they arrive in the U.S. In fact, HHS oversees dozens of state-licensed care facilities to house the young migrants when they arrive in the country and as of May 2, 2023, there are 8,492 unaccompanied children in HHS care, according to the latest agency figures. In fiscal year 2021 ORR provided shelter to 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%) come from Guatemala, 32% from Honduras, 13% from El Salvador and 8% from other countries.

The living accommodations are supposed to be short term, until the government can place the migrants with family or a sponsor even though Uncle Sam still pays for costly medical, educational, legal and other services after release. The new funding for long term care indicates that American taxpayers will get stuck with a much bigger tab than previously disclosed to support UAC. The extended services will also include “acculturation and adaptation” care to help the illegal aliens develop social and interpersonal skills, education, legal and mental health. Daily education for the UAC in long term foster care will be a minimum of six hours based on basic academic competencies and secondarily on English language training. Foster homes will establish summer education plans tailored to the migrants’ needs, including individual counseling by a qualified mental health professional when needed. Mental health professionals will identify special needs and issues that require immediate intervention, including previous juvenile justice or criminal involvement.

“Care providers are required to provide or arrange for the required services in a manner that is sensitive to the age, culture, religion, dietary needs, native language, sexual orientation, gender identity, and other important individual needs of each” young migrant, the grant announcement states. It also says all UAC in U.S. care are entitled to human rights protections and freedom from discrimination and abuse and that providers must ensure that all migrants who are LGBTQI+ are treated fairly and served during their time in custody. “Care providers are required to have the capacity to provide services in the language spoken by the majority of UC in their facility(ies) and/or provide translation services,” the document states, adding the obvious, that “most UC in ORR custody speak Spanish.” The agency further writes that applicants for the new pot of money should “have the flexibility to care for the expanding cultural and linguistically diverse populations that are referred each year.”

This is all part of the Biden administration’s red-carpet rollout for underage illegal immigrants. It is important to note the irony of a system that spends so much money to accommodate a demographic that also includes hardcore criminals and violent gangbangers. 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.