[House Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                     OVERSIGHT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
                  HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES' OFFICE OF 
                           REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                   SUBCOMMITTEE ON IMMIGRATION INTEGRITY, 
                         SECURITY, AND ENFORCEMENT

                       COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

                     U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

                             SECOND SESSION

                               __________

                      WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2024

                               __________

                           Serial No. 118-103

                               __________

         Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary
         
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               Available via: http://judiciary.house.gov
               
                              __________

                   U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
57-463                  WASHINGTON : 2025                  
          
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------                    

                      COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

                        JIM JORDAN, Ohio, Chair

DARRELL ISSA, California             JERROLD NADLER, New York, Ranking 
ANDY BIGGS, Arizona                      Member
TOM McCLINTOCK, California           ZOE LOFGREN, California
TOM TIFFANY, Wisconsin               STEVE COHEN, Tennessee
THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky              HENRY C. ``HANK'' JOHNSON, Jr., 
CHIP ROY, Texas                          Georgia
DAN BISHOP, North Carolina           ERIC SWALWELL, California
VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana             TED LIEU, California
SCOTT FITZGERALD, Wisconsin          PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington
CLIFF BENTZ, Oregon                  J. LUIS CORREA, California
BEN CLINE, Virginia                  MARY GAY SCANLON, Pennsylvania
KELLY ARMSTRONG, North Dakota        JOE NEGUSE, Colorado
LANCE GOODEN, Texas                  LUCY McBATH, Georgia
JEFF VAN DREW, New Jersey            MADELEINE DEAN, Pennsylvania
TROY NEHLS, Texas                    VERONICA ESCOBAR, Texas
BARRY MOORE, Alabama                 DEBORAH ROSS, North Carolina
KEVIN KILEY, California              CORI BUSH, Missouri
HARRIET HAGEMAN, Wyoming             GLENN IVEY, Maryland
NATHANIEL MORAN, Texas               BECCA BALINT, Vermont
LAUREL LEE, Florida                  JESUS G. ``CHUY'' GARCIA, Illinois
WESLEY HUNT, Texas                   ERICA LEE CARTER, Texas
RUSSELL FRY, South Carolina
MICHAEL RULLI, Ohio
Vacancy
                                 ------                                

            SUBCOMMITTEE ON IMMIGRATION INTEGRITY, SECURITY,
                            AND ENFORCEMENT

                   TOM McCLINTOCK, California, Chair

ANDY BIGGS, Arizona                  PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington, 
TOM TIFFANY, Wisconsin                   Ranking Member
CHIP ROY, Texas                      ZOE LOFGREN, California
VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana             J. LUIS CORREA, California
JEFF VAN DREW, New Jersey            VERONICA ESCOBAR, Texas
TROY NEHLS, Texas                    DEBORAH ROSS, North Carolina
BARRY MOORE, Alabama                 ERIC SWALWELL, California
WESLEY HUNT, Texas                   JESUS G. ``CHUY'' GARCIA, Illinois
MICHAEL RULLI, Ohio                  Vacancy

               CHRISTOPHER HIXON, Majority Staff Director
         AARON HILLER, Minority Staff Director & Chief of Staff
                           
                           C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              

                      Wednesday, November 20, 2024

                                                                   Page

                           OPENING STATEMENTS

The Honorable Tom McClintock, Chair of the Subcommittee on 
  Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement from the State 
  of California..................................................     1
The Honorable Pramila Jayapal, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee 
  on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement from the 
  State of Washington............................................     3
The Honorable Jim Jordan, Chair of the Committee on the Judiciary 
  from the State of Ohio.........................................     5
The Honorable Jerrold Nadler, Ranking Member of the Committee on 
  the Judiciary from the State of New York.......................     5

                                WITNESS

Secretary Xavier Becerra, U.S. Department of Health and Human 
  Services
  Oral Testimony.................................................     7
  Prepared Testimony.............................................    10

          LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC. SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING

All materials submitted for the record by the Subcommittee on 
  Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement are listed 
  below..........................................................    46

Materials submitted by the Honorable Andy Biggs, a Member of the 
  Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and 
  Enforcement from the State of Arizona, for the record
  A memo from the Administration for Children & Families, Office 
      of Refugee Resettlement, Field Guidance #10, Expedite 
      Release for Eligible Category 1 Cases, Mar. 22, 2021
  A memo from the Administration for Children & Families, Office 
      of Refugee Resettlement, Field Guidance #11, Temporary 
      Waivers of Background Check Requirement for Category 2 
      Adult Household Members and Adult Caregivers, Mar. 31, 2021
  A report entitled, ``The Biden-Harris Administration's Failure 
      to Protect Unaccompanied Children from Abuse and 
      Exploitation,'' Nov. 2024, Minority Staff Report, U.S. 
      Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pension
  A memo from the Office of Refugee Resettlement's Division of 
      Unaccompanied Childrens' Operations (ORR/DUCO) Federal 
      Field Specialist Supervisors, concerns regarding the 
      erosion of child-welfae practices within the UC Program, 
      Jul. 23, 2021
  A document from the Office of Refugee Resettlement, Nov. 18, 
      2024, 45 CFR 410.1202
  A Release Request form concerning multiple unaccompanied 
      children
Portions of the consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, Public Law 
  118-47, Fiscal Year 2024, Office of Refugee Resettlement, Mar. 
  23, 2024, submitted by the Honorable Tom McClintock, Chair of 
  the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and 
  Enforcement from the State of California, for the record

                                APPENDIX

A statement from the Church World Service (CWS), submitted by the 
  Honorable Pramila Jayapal, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee 
  on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement from the 
  State of Washington, for the record

                 QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES FOR THE RECORD

Question to the Hon. Xavier Becerra, Secretary, U.S. Department 
  of Health and Human Services, submitted the Honorable Jeff Van 
  Drew, a Member of the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, 
  Security, and Enforcement from the State of New Jersey, for the 
  record
Response to questions from the Hon. Xavier Becerra, Secretary, 
  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, for the record

 
                     OVERSIGHT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF
       HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES' OFFICE OF REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT

                              ----------                              


                      Wednesday, November 20, 2024

                        House of Representatives

            Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security,

                            and Enforcement

                       Committee on the Judiciary

                             Washington, DC

    The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2 p.m., in 
Room 2141, Rayburn House Office Building, the Hon. Tom 
McClintock [Chair of the Subcommittee] presiding.
    Present: Representatives McClintock, Jordan, Biggs, 
Tiffany, Roy, Van Drew, Moore, Hunt, Rulli, Jayapal, Nadler, 
Correa, Ross, and Garcia.
    Mr. McClintock. The Subcommittee will come to order.
    Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare a 
recess at any time.
    Today, the Subcommittee meets to conduct oversight into the 
activities of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, administered 
by the Department of Health and Human Services.
    We welcome HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra to answer questions 
that we have arising from his administration of this office.
    I think we'd all agree that if a child shows up lost and 
alone on your doorstep, you've got a moral obligation to find 
out where that child lives and return them safely home. The 
last thing any decent person would do is to take that child to 
a stranger's house and leave them there. Yet, it appears this 
is exactly what this administration has been doing for the last 
four years.
    In just four years, this administration has deliberately 
allowed 7.6 million illegal aliens to enter the United States, 
releasing more than 5.7 million illegal aliens into the 
country, while more than 1.9 million known gotaways evaded 
apprehension, an illegal population larger than the State of 
Arizona, our 14th-largest State.
    Among them there have been an estimated 530,000 
unaccompanied alien minors. That's about the entire population 
of the State of Wyoming.
    Instead of protecting these children until they could be 
returned safely home or until their rightful families could be 
located, HHS deliberately circumvented protocols designed to 
protect these children and abandoned them to poorly vetted 
sponsors in the United States.
    The House Judiciary Committee estimates that roughly 
150,000 of these children have now disappeared. They've simply 
vanished into a dark underworld of sex and drug trafficking, 
forced labor, gang activity, and crime.
    Of course, many are not helpless children but, rather, 
teenagers or adults posing as teenagers, who themselves present 
a mortal threat to the public.
    Take the case of Walter Javier Martinez. He was transferred 
to the Office of Refugee Resettlement as an accompanied alien 
child despite a previous arrest in El Salvador for illicit 
association with MS-13. One call to Salvadorian authorities 
would have confirmed this. Maryland authorities later noted 
that he had gang tattoos. Instead, Martinez was released into 
our country, no questions asked. On July 27, 2022, he brutally 
attacked and killed Kayla Hamilton, who was sound asleep in her 
own bed.
    While the prime suspect in her murder, Martinez was placed 
in a foster home with other children and enrolled in a local 
high school. He has admitted to four murders, two rapes, and 
additional other crimes.
    Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez from Guatemala, also fast-
tracked into our country by this administration as an 
unaccompanied alien child and released to an unrelated sponsor 
who was himself an illegal alien. On August 12, 2023, he 
murdered 11-year-old Maria Gonzalez in her own home, wrapped 
her body in a trash bag, and stashed it under her bed for her 
father to find.
    We don't know how many more such monsters are among the 
150,000 unaccompanied alien minors that HHS has lost track of, 
or how many helpless children have been abducted and exploited, 
but we are slowly finding out, tragedy by preventable tragedy.
    What we know is that, in 2021, Mr. Becerra removed the 
requirement that ORR provide biographic and biometric data for 
all adult members of a sponsor's household to check for their 
criminal history. What could possibly go wrong?
    Records produced by a whistleblower showed that, in 2021, 
HHS disregarded repeated warnings by a case manager about the 
MS-13 affiliation of one sponsor attempting to take custody of 
two unaccompanied alien children.
    According to The New York Times, Secretary Becerra berated 
employees for not processing minors fast enough, saying, quote,

        If Henry Ford had seen this in his plant, he would've never 
        become famous and rich. This is not the way you do an assembly 
        line.

    In July 2021, concerned employees drafted a memo warning 
that, quote, ``labor trafficking was increasing,'' and 
complaining that the agency had become, quote, ``one that 
rewards individuals for making quick releases and not one that 
rewards individuals for preventing unsafe releases.''
    According to press reports, Mr. Becerra told then-ORR-
Director Cindy Huang that, and I quote, ``if she could not 
increase the number of discharges, he would find someone who 
could.'' Huang resigned a month later.
    Now, the American people have already passed judgment on 
these policies in the recent election. Those responsible have 
much to answer to the victims of their policies and to history. 
We welcome the Secretary here today to account for his actions.
    With that, I yield to the Ranking Member for her opening 
statement.
    Ms. Jayapal. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    At the outset, I just want to note that this is the first 
Immigration Subcommittee meeting without Representative Sheila 
Jackson Lee.
    She was not only a long-term Member of this Subcommittee, 
but she served as its Ranking Member from the 105th through the 
109th Congress. When it came to advocating for those in need, 
there was simply no better champion than Representative Jackson 
Lee.
    Back in 2020, I remember, when reports emerged of women 
being subjected to forced medical procedures in immigration 
detention that left some women unable to bear children, my 
office found a survivor who was Representative Jackson Lee's 
constituent who was about to be deported, and I reached out to 
the Representative, who jumped right on it. Not only did she 
stop her deportation once she actually stopped it twice.
    She was a relentless advocate, and her voice on this 
Subcommittee will be missed.
    Today's hearing, I want to start by commending Secretary 
Becerra for coming before the Subcommittee today. Our staff 
went back and looked, and we believe that this might be the 
first time that the Health and Human Services Secretary has 
ever come before the Immigration Subcommittee. It shows once 
again how accommodating the Biden Administration has been when 
it comes to oversight.
    Unfortunately, this is just another show hearing by the 
majority. With just six weeks left in the 118th Congress, this 
is only the second immigration-related hearing in the Judiciary 
Committee to which our colleagues in the majority have actually 
invited a government witness.
    Today's hearing will be one final attempt by the Majority 
to use all their same false talking points--that the Biden 
Administration purposefully created a border crisis and 
``lost,'' in quotes, ``lost'' tens of thousands of children, 
all of which we know is wrong by the facts.
    I'm sure the Secretary will address this as well, but let's 
just be clear: These children are not lost.
    The HHS's legal authority ceases once an unaccompanied 
child is united with a sponsor--usually a parent or a close 
relative. While HHS conducts three followup calls to ensure 
that everything is going well between a sponsor and a child, 
the agency has no ability to force their way into the home. If 
no one answers these three calls, then HHS is no longer in 
contact with the child. Now, that does not mean that the child 
is, quote, ``lost.''
    Further, this is not a new policy. Previous administrations 
have dealt with similar reports of missing children who have 
been released from HHS custody. For example, in 2018, there was 
a widespread report that the Trump Administration, quote, 
``lost contact'' with approximately 1,500 unaccompanied 
children during just a three-month period. Those children were 
also not lost; they were following the same procedures that 
this administration has followed.
    Soon, Republicans will not have anyone to blame. In a few 
short weeks, they will have full control of the government. 
Republicans will actually have to govern and take 
responsibility for what happens in the country.
    Unfortunately, this Majority has shown again and again that 
they're not serious about finding solutions to our complex 
immigration system. While we will hear Republicans ranting 
today about children being trafficked into the country, the 
only legislation that this Majority has passed on this issue 
would actually gut protections for unaccompanied children.
    That cruel, inhumane, and unworkable bill, H.R. 2, would 
allow unaccompanied children to languish in Border Patrol 
facilities for up to a month. It would force children to appear 
within two weeks before an immigration judge, with no access to 
an attorney. It would send children back to their home 
countries, where they are at high risk for exploitation and 
abuse.
    Their bill, by the way, would also decimate the bipartisan 
Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, or TVPRA, 
which Congress passed on a sweeping, bipartisan basis and 
established the U.S. Government's central framework for keeping 
unaccompanied children out of the hands of traffickers.
    Democrats want to protect children and not make it more 
difficult for them to stay safe. We have more work to do, real 
serious work to do, to make that happen.
    I was devastated last year reading articles about young 
children who were taken advantage of by unscrupulous sponsors 
and employers and the potential warning signs that were missed. 
This increase in child labor is a trend that has been steadily 
on the rise, especially since 2018. It's completely 
unacceptable, and I've been shocked to see Republican State 
legislatures respond by passing bills that actually weaken the 
protections on child labor.
    In response, HHS finalized regulations aimed at protecting 
unaccompanied children that are placed in HHS's care. The rule 
improves HHS's placement and release processes for 
unaccompanied children, it strengthens kids' privacy and legal 
rights, and it sets minimum standards for emergency and influx 
facilities designed to hold children when there is insufficient 
space in permanent facilities.
    The Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services have 
also put in place a variety of new efforts to combat 
exploitative child labor, including a new interagency task 
force to improve coordination and the information-sharing among 
agencies.
    At the same time, we know that the Office of Refugee 
Resettlement and the administration overall need to do more to 
ensure the safety of kids. To do that, we in Congress have to 
provide sufficient funding to these agencies for that critical 
work.
    That includes funding to increase post-release services for 
children after they're placed with a sponsor, as well as 
appointment of counsel for all unaccompanied children to ensure 
that they understand the extremely complex immigration system. 
Improvements in both of these areas would help protect children 
from mistreatment, exploitation, and trafficking. That funding, 
unfortunately, is something that the Republican Majority has 
been unwilling to do.
    The Department of Labor also does need to be more 
aggressive in going after unscrupulous employers to the fullest 
extent of the law. Many of these employers were using E-Verify, 
which just goes to show how ineffective that system is. They 
should be held accountable for hiring kids and subjecting them 
and all other workers to harsh conditions.
    I look forward to hearing from the Secretary today. The 
protection of children from exploitation, abuse, and 
trafficking should be a bipartisan issue, and I hope my 
colleagues approach it in that way.
    I thank you for your service, Mr. Secretary.
    I yield back.
    Mr. McClintock. I'm now pleased to recognize the Chair of 
the House Judiciary Committee, Congressman Jordan.
    Chair Jordan. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    So, let me get this straight. So, a lost child is not 
actually lost; we just can't find them--150,000 of them. That's 
the issue.
    That's why we're glad the Secretary is here today to 
finally--finally--answer some of our questions. I do appreciate 
the Secretary showing up. I had a chance to serve with the 
Secretary when he was in Congress.
    I appreciate the Ranking Member; I just disagree with what 
she had to say. We've worked on other issues together, but you 
can't say, ``Oh, they're not really lost; we just can't contact 
them.'' That's the problem--150,000 of them.
    I appreciate the Chair's work and this Committee's work. 
The Chair was the primary driver of H.R. 2 that we passed a 
year and a half ago that would've solved so many problems with 
our border and with our immigration system. So, I appreciate 
the work that he's done, and I appreciate this hearing.
    With that, I yield back.
    Mr. McClintock. Thank you.
    I'm next pleased to recognize the Ranking Member of the 
House Judiciary Committee, Mr. Nadler, for an opening 
statement.
    Mr. Nadler. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Mr. Chair, today, the Immigration Subcommittee is 
conducting an oversight hearing on the Department of Health and 
Human Services. I'm all for the Committee exercising its robust 
oversight authority, and I certainly hope the Committee plans 
to subject the incoming administration to the same degree of 
oversight it has utilized for the outgoing one.
    What an administration it is shaping up to be: A Fox News 
host who advocated for pardoning war criminals and thinks women 
should not serve in combat as the Secretary of Defense; a pro-
Putin propagandist for Director of National Intelligence; a 
former Congressman whose only experience with prosecution is 
his own alleged criminal entanglements to serve as Attorney 
General; and most applicable to today's hearing, an 
antivaccine, conspiracy-peddling extremist with a penchant for 
eating bears for Secretary of Health and Human Services.
    These may be some of the most unqualified candidates for 
Cabinet posts in living memory. It turns out, when you burn 
through the serious people in your first administration, there 
are slim pickings for the second one.
    We in Congress have an important job as a co-equal branch 
of the government. We have a mandate to conduct oversight over 
the executive branch, and the Senate is constitutionally 
required to evaluate and, if appropriate, to confirm or reject 
Presidential appointees. We were elected by our constituents to 
perform these responsibilities no matter which party sits in 
the White House.
    The responsibilities we have are serious, but this Majority 
is deeply unserious. This hearing is sure to exemplify this 
fundamental lack of seriousness.
    I am sure that we will hear today a great deal about the 
children the Biden Administration allegedly lost, although this 
is a thoroughly misleading claim based on half-truths and 
without necessary context, as the Ranking Member of the 
Subcommittee pointed out.
    To be clear, there are systemic problems at the Office of 
Refugee Resettlement that have endured across administrations 
of both parties, and any child who is harmed as a result is one 
child too many.
    While the Biden Administration has taken important steps to 
address these concerns, the policies the majority has pushed 
throughout this Congress, coupled with those that President-
elect Trump plans to put in place, would gravely harm immigrant 
children and make the situation far worse.
    For example, the Majority's marquee immigration legislation 
would gut protections for unaccompanied children, increasing 
the exploitation of children, and send them back to the 
traffickers and abusers Republicans claim to abhor.
    Republican-led States like Florida, Iowa, and Arkansas have 
all made it easier for children to work longer hours and more 
dangerous jobs, paving the way for exploitative work conditions 
for all children.
    President-elect Trump has promised to bring back some of 
his cruelest and most harmful policies, including family 
detention and ``Remain in Mexico.'' He's not even ruled out 
bringing back family separation. Does anyone truly believe that 
these are pro-child policies?
    The Republican Majority has also failed to provide the 
Departments of Health and Human Services and Labor with the 
resources and authority they need to properly protect these 
children and to go after exploitative employers. Is there any 
reason to believe that they will do so under the next 
administration?
    Do you really believe that the person nominated to be the 
next HHS Secretary, a man whose theories and views contributed 
to the preventable measles deaths of dozens of children in 
Samoa, would adequately protect children in this country?
    Do you believe a government beholden to Elon Musk and his 
promise to cut trillions of dollars from the Federal budget are 
going to adequately fund programs designed to ensure children 
are properly cared for?
    When we inevitably get reports of children being torn apart 
from their parents or shipped off to countries they cannot 
remember or have never lived in, of inhumane conditions in the 
tent-city detention centers the incoming administration plans 
to set up, or of deaths in custody, are we going to see the 
Majority exercise its oversight authority and hold the Trump 
Administration to account? I won't be holding my breath.
    Secretary Becerra, it is good to see you. I appreciate you 
being here today and all the good work that HHS has done under 
your leadership. I look forward to your testimony, but if you 
came in here hopes of a thoughtful, meaningful debate on 
policy, I'm afraid you'll be sorely disappointed.
    Thank you, and I yield back.
    Mr. McClintock. Thank you.
    Well, now that we've come to bipartisan agreement on these 
vital issues, it's time to introduce today's witness.
    Mr. Xavier Becerra is the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services, a position he's been holding since March 2021. 
Secretary Becerra previously served as the Attorney General of 
California and was a Member of the House of Representatives 
between 1993-2017.
    We welcome him and thank him for appearing here today.
    I will begin by swearing you in, Mr. Secretary. Would you 
please rise, and raise your right hand?
    Do you swear or affirm, under penalty of perjury, that the 
testimony you are about to give is true and correct to the best 
of your knowledge, information, and belief, so help you God?
    Secretary Becerra. I do.
    Mr. McClintock. Thank you.
    Let the record reflect the witness has answered in the 
affirmative.
    Please know your written testimony will be entered in the 
record in its entirety, and, accordingly, we'd ask that you 
will summarize it.
    So, Mr. Secretary, you may begin.

             STATEMENT OF SECRETARY XAVIER BECERRA

    Secretary Becerra. Mr. Chair, the Ranking Member, and the 
Members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to discuss 
the work of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' 
Unaccompanied Children Bureau within the Office of Refugee 
Resettlement.
    Before I begin my comments, I do want to add my word to 
those of the Ranking Member, who mentioned our former colleague 
Sheila Jackson Lee, a dear friend, someone I had a chance to 
serve with for many, many years, and a true champion of people 
who really just believed in their government and in their 
Constitution. So, we miss her, but it's good to know that we 
always think of her.
    Mr. Chair, let me begin by clarifying some confusion or 
misunderstanding over ORR's work.
    First, ORR is not an immigration or law enforcement agency. 
It does not possess such powers and does not render decisions 
in those areas.
    Second, pursuant to congressional mandate, ORR provides 
temporary custody and care, including support services for 
unaccompanied children.
    ORR fulfills its Congressional mandate by funding nearly 
300 programs in 29 States, including shelter programs, 
transitional foster care, long-term foster care, group homes, 
heightened-supervision facilities, and residential treatment 
centers.
    At these facilities, our contractors deliver child-focused 
services in accordance with child welfare best practices. That 
includes access to healthcare, education, recreation, 
counseling, and legal services.
    Third, HHS's custodial responsibility and oversight for 
unaccompanied children through ORR ends once we place the child 
with an appropriately vetted sponsor.
    As important as this work is, we know and child welfare 
experts will tell you that the best place for a child is with a 
family in a home in a community, not in a congregate care 
facility. That's why we work so hard to find and vet potential 
sponsors for an unaccompanied child.
    In fact, an overwhelming number of children released to a 
sponsor by ORR were placed with a parent, legal guardian, or 
close family member. As any parent will tell you, to really 
raise a child, you have to be all-in.
    The children we encounter at ORR enter the country without 
any parent or adult guardian. The challenge for these 
unaccompanied children is immense. We have worked tirelessly 
over the past 46 months to build a sustainable network of 
trained and licensed caregivers who can meet this challenge.
    Our network of small-size caregivers means no child stays 
in a barracks-style housing. We work to keep the tender-age 
children separate from older adolescents. We strive to house 
siblings in the same facility together. We expand services so 
children can receive information and guidance from legal 
advocates.
    We expanded care management and sponsor placement 
operations to seven days a week. We established the UC Ombuds 
Office so that staff and stakeholders may raise concerns to an 
independent and impartial body. We established the ORR 
Integrity and Accountability Team to further identify and 
prevent attempted fraud.
    We executed a memorandum of agreement with the Office of 
Trafficking in Persons, with the National Center for Missing 
and Exploited Children, and with the Department of Labor to 
help protect the children after they leave our care and 
custody. We extended our access to post-release services to 
every child we place with a sponsor.
    Like parenting, the work of ORR and our network of 
caregivers is nonstop, and we are constantly striving to 
improve. We set clear rules for standards of care, and we have 
zero tolerance for behavior by care personnel that threatens 
the safety and well-being of children. All incidents of 
inappropriate behavior must be reported to ORR, and we take 
action, as well as report and coordinate with appropriate 
authorities.
    These are the trademarks of an enterprise that understands 
its weighty responsibility toward the very vulnerable 
populations we serve.
    I want to publicly express my gratitude to the ORR team for 
never letting up against the many challenges they face daily in 
prioritizing the safety and well-being of the unaccompanied 
children who come into our care. These dedicated professionals 
may not be the parents of these kids, but they are and all of 
us at HHS are all-in.
    Mr. Chair, that concludes my testimony. I look forward to 
your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Secretary Becerra follows:]
    [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
    Mr. McClintock. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
    We'll now proceed under the five-minute rule with 
questions.
    The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona, Mr. Biggs, 
for five minutes.
    Mr. Biggs. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Secretary Becerra, do your policies at ORR place priority 
on speedy placement of the unaccompanied child with sponsors or 
taking care of their safety and protection once they've been 
placed?
    Secretary Becerra. Thank you, Congressman, for the 
question.
    The safety and well-being of children in our custody is our 
number-one priority.
    Mr. Biggs. Well, so that's important to know, because your 
record indicates that biometrics for the sponsors were eased up 
there.
    The use of DNA--I'm going to read from your directive on 
March 22, 2021.

        Use of DNA is only used for the purpose of establishing 
        biological relationships for purposes of sponsorship and is not 
        submitted to law enforcement personnel or run against law 
        enforcement databases.

    Catch that last part? Not submitted to law enforcement 
personnel and not run against law enforcement databases.
    Get this part: Submission of DNA by the parent is 
voluntary.
    How in the world does that protect the child, the 
unaccompanied minor, when actually what you're doing, you're 
saying, the parent, whether you submit to DNA, that's 
voluntary? So, you're going to be taking whoever it is, the 
sponsor, their word. So, how does that protect the child?
    Secretary Becerra. Congressman, thank you for the question.
    We use a number of tools to make sure we can identify the 
child, and certainly do the background checks on anyone who 
wishes to be a sponsor.
    We always hope that we can get the most direct information 
about the care--excuse me--the people who are wishing to 
sponsor these children. We use, as you've mentioned, a number 
of techniques, including fingerprinting and DNA on occasion 
when it helps us to identify--
    Mr. Biggs. On occasion. On occasion.
    If you don't have the DNA and you don't have the 
fingerprints, how in the world are you checking the databases 
for the background? How are you vetting them?
    Secretary Becerra. We have a number of techniques that we 
use to make sure we're--
    Mr. Biggs. What are they?
    Secretary Becerra. They can include any number of things, 
such as: Sometimes it will include fingerprints. It will 
include a direct interview with the individual. It will be a 
check on citizenship documents.
    Mr. Biggs. How often do you use fingerprinting or DNA?
    Secretary Becerra. Again, it depends on the type of 
information we have to identify the individuals who are wishing 
to sponsor.
    Mr. Biggs. So, let's read this one here. This is from a 
directive 10 days later, March 31, 2021:

        Effective immediately, background check requirements for adult 
        household members and alternate adult caregivers identified in 
        a sponsor care plan are not required as a condition of release 
        under any Category 2.

    So, it's not required all the time, right? It's just--it's 
voluntary, for DNA for parents.
    So, how can you say that your number-one priority is the 
safety of these unaccompanied children when you're placing them 
in sponsors' homes that on occasion have criminal gang 
affiliations because there's been no proper background check? 
How can you say that?
    Secretary Becerra. Congressman, if you follow child welfare 
best practices, you do an extensive background check. We follow 
child welfare best practices, so we do those extensive 
background checks, which could include any number of things.
    Mr. Biggs. So, how did it happen--I've got this report that 
I'd like to submit to the record. This is Senator Grassley's 
report.
    Mr. McClintock. Without objection.
    Mr. Biggs. How did we see children ending up in the homes 
of MS-13 gang members as the sponsor? How'd that happen?
    Secretary Becerra. Congressman, I don't have that 
information before me that you're referencing, but what I can 
tell you is that no sponsor would be allowed to take a child if 
we have information that shows that they are engaged in 
criminal activity.
    Mr. Biggs. If you don't do the vetting right, you don't 
know if they're engaged in criminal activity. That's how you 
end up with an MS-13 gang member as the sponsor. That's how you 
end up with pedophiles getting 20 children in the same home. 
That's how you end up there. Because the vetting's been crappy. 
That's just the bottom line.
    So, if we go on and move to this other aspect, where you 
say the emphasis is on safety and not speed, I'm going to read 
to you now the memo of concern filed in July 2021. The reason 
that I read this, even though it's dated somewhat, it seems to 
be still the conditions. This is from page 2:

        Since the beginning of this current influx, ORR field staff 
        have seen the transformation of the Division of Unaccompanied 
        Children's Operations within ORR from a child-welfare-focused 
        model to one that emphasizes what seems to be a ``release to 
        someone as soon as possible.'' model.

    So, I know you've lost contact with these children, and now 
we're told that when you lose contact with these children, it's 
not being lost. It is being lost.
    I ask for all these to be included into the record, Mr. 
Chair, and yield back.
    Mr. McClintock. Without objection.
    Mr. McClintock. The gentleman's time has expired. Ms. 
Jayapal, for five minutes.
    Ms. Jayapal. Thank you. Mr. Secretary, again, thanks for 
coming here.
    Earlier this year, I knew HHS finalized regulations 
governing the placement, care, and services provided to 
unaccompanied children in HHS custody. My understanding is that 
these regulations improve the Department's placement and 
release processes for unaccompanied children, strengthen 
children's privacy and legal rights, and set minimum standards 
for emergency and influx facilities designed to hold children 
when there is insufficient space.
    The regulations also codify the current requirement that an 
at-home study be conducted before releasing a child to a 
nonrelative sponsor who is attempting to sponsor multiple 
children, who previously sponsored a child, or if the 
nonrelative child they want to sponsor is under 12 years old.
    A lot of this seems responsive to the concerns that were 
raised last year following a report from The New York Times 
that children were working unlawfully in factories across the 
Midwest and that some sponsors had taken in multiple 
unaccompanied children.
    Can you just confirm to Mr. Biggs's question, you do a full 
background check on everybody; is that correct?
    Secretary Becerra. Yes, we do.
    Ms. Jayapal. So, you run them through the databases. If 
they have a criminal history, that's going to come up in the 
full background check. Is that right?
    Secretary Becerra. That's correct.
    Ms. Jayapal. So, can you discuss the importance of the 
regulations that you passed to protecting unaccompanied 
children in HHS's custody?
    Second, can you discuss why the home study requirement for 
children under 12 who are not placed with a close relative is 
so important to protecting kids from trafficking?
    Secretary Becerra. Congresswoman, the rule that you've 
mentioned that we recently, actually, got through and have now 
put in place was important, because it puts a clear signal on 
what we do and how we do it so that all of our contractors who 
care for these kids understand the rules.
    So, they must make sure that if they're going to vet a 
particular sponsor, they go through the full level of extensive 
checking on background, whether it's a sexual offender 
registry, whether it's making sure that, if they need it, they 
use fingerprints.
    We want to make sure there's no ambiguity about what their 
responsibility is to make sure that they are putting, first and 
foremost, the safety of that child first before they place that 
child with a sponsor.
    That Foundational Rule has now put in place what we've 
learned over time, because, if you'll recall, we inherited a 
dismantled, a broken system--
    Ms. Jayapal. Yep.
    Secretary Becerra. --for childcare of these unaccompanied 
kids, and we had to essentially rebuild the process. Along the 
way, we've learned a great deal about how to do it and how to 
do it better and how to strengthen it, and this Foundational 
Rule really incorporates that.
    Ms. Jayapal. Yes. Thank you.
    So, I just want to be clear, it's not like you're just 
placing kids with people who have criminal records, people who 
are known gang members. You're going through a full, extensive 
background check before you place any child.
    I understand that many of the factories unlawfully 
employing children used E-Verify. It's clear that many of our 
immigration laws and tools, including E-Verify, are not 
sufficient to meet the demands of our modern world. The 
immigration system hasn't been meaningfully reformed in over 30 
years.
    You and I have both worked on that issue for a long time. 
What reforms to the immigration system would you recommend 
helping HHS protect unaccompanied children entrusted to your 
care?
    Secretary Becerra. Well, Congresswoman, one of the things 
that we've worked hard to do is to expand our post-release 
services. Because, as you mentioned in your opening remarks, 
once we have placed a child in the care of a sponsor, a vetted 
sponsor, we no longer have responsibility, we no longer have 
jurisdiction over those children. We should be able to have 
that post-release service made something we can do all the 
time.
    Right now, we offer it to the kids; they're not required to 
take it. We're also depending on the resources to actually 
offer those services, so if we don't have the resources, we 
can't offer those post-release services. That would help.
    Certainly, if there's an employer who is exploiting a child 
and employing them against the law, I would hope that this 
Committee would do the same type of hearings, same type of 
investigation of the employers. We follow the law at HHS; 
employers should too.
    Ms. Jayapal. Yes. Really important point. I don't think 
we've dragged any employers up to the table to talk to them 
about why they are abusing these labor laws and employing child 
labor.
    I want to discuss the appointed counsel, because I think 
this is really important. It's outrageous to me that kids, 
including toddlers, are forced to literally show up in court 
facing a prosecutor and they've got no representation. I think 
a lot of Americans just may not know that.
    As you know, HHS is required to arrange for legal 
representation for unaccompanied children to the greatest 
extent practicable. I know that you share my empathy with these 
kids, but so much of this is, again, contingent on funding that 
is given to the agency.
    So, given how complicated the immigration system is, just 
can you briefly discuss--my time is out, but--the importance of 
providing counsel to unaccompanied children?
    Secretary Becerra. Giving kids the right information is 
crucial.
    Mr. Chair, I recognize my time has expired, so I'll be 
brief and say: We do everything we can to make sure they 
understand what their obligations are. We don't actually hire 
them attorneys, but we try to give them some information, 
provide the advocacy. Again, it's all contingent on having the 
resources to go to that extent of services.
    Ms. Jayapal. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. I yield back.
    Mr. McClintock. Mr. Biggs, for a unanimous consent request.
    Mr. Biggs. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    I think the rule that the witness might have referred to is 
Title 45--I'd like to submit it for the record--where it makes 
public records checks and FBI national crime checks optional 
for the sponsors and adults living--
    Mr. McClintock. Without objection.
    Mr. McClintock. Mr. Tiffany is recognized for five minutes.
    Mr. Tiffany. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    The Ranking Member ripped on the Trump appointees in his 
opening remarks, which we largely expected, but I'd just ask 
the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, 
do you have a medical degree?
    Secretary Becerra. I do not.
    Mr. Tiffany. You do not have a medical degree.
    Are you familiar with the Florida grand jury presentment 
that they did about a year and a half ago, in 2023, in regard 
to unaccompanied alien children?
    Secretary Becerra. I am somewhat familiar with it. I was 
briefed on it on many occasions.
    Mr. Tiffany. Are you familiar in that report, it revealed 
that children were pimped out by their aunt, which turns out 
the aunt wasn't even related to the child, the so-called aunt. 
Are you familiar with that story that was in there?
    Secretary Becerra. There are a number of incidents that are 
reported in that Florida report. Some of them I can probably 
recall better than others. Some of them I would challenge and 
dispute. That one I don't remember.
    Mr. Tiffany. Do you remember the teenage girl that was in a 
house with unknown men with no private bedroom for her?
    Secretary Becerra. Yes, I--
    Mr. Tiffany. Are you familiar with the sponsors that 
utilized a strip club in Jacksonville as an address for where a 
child should be settled?
    Secretary Becerra. Congressman, as I said, I don't have the 
information on that Florida grand jury report in front of me. I 
certainly can go back and take a look at it and try to get back 
to you.
    Mr. Tiffany. Are you familiar that the case managers only 
performing home studies--the case managers are only doing case 
studies--or home studies in 4.5 percent of placements in 
Florida? Only 4.5 percent. In fact, discretionary home studies 
were one percent.
    Is that all you folks are checking up on these kids that 
are so vulnerable?
    Secretary Becerra. Congressman, thank you for the question.
    Congress, in passing the laws that apply to the 
unaccompanied children, said that home studies would be 
reserved for those children who came to us with circumstances 
that show trauma or the need for additional services. So, by 
law, by statute passed by you and Congress--those of you in 
Congress in the past, we have the obligation to conduct these 
home studies only in those particular cases.
    We provide home study--
    Mr. Tiffany. So, you decided to do the minimum.
    Secretary Becerra. No, that's--
    Mr. Tiffany. One percent. That's what you said.
    Secretary Becerra. I was about to go there--
    Mr. Tiffany. ``OK, here's the law; that's all we're going 
to do.'' In the meantime, you've got kids being placed in 
addresses like a strip club in Jacksonville, Florida.
    Secretary Becerra. That's what I was trying to say, it is 
that's not the case. We do--
    Mr. Tiffany. In your testimony--
    Secretary Becerra. We do home studies at our discretion. 
Most of the time, we have to require--we have to wait until we 
have the funding, know we have the funding to do those 
discretionary home studies, but we've expanded them. That's why 
the Foundational Rule has become so important.
    Mr. Tiffany. In your testimony, you said you coordinate 
with the States and local municipalities to make sure that 
you're working with them.
    In this Florida presentment, it says, neither U.S. 
Department of Homeland Security or HHS actively coordinates or 
consults with the State on the UAC that are resettled in 
Florida.
    Did you see that part of the study? You aren't coordinating 
with them?
    Secretary Becerra. Congressman, I find that hard to 
believe.
    Mr. Tiffany. Why are you not coordinating with them?
    Secretary Becerra. Remember, we used to have programs in 
Florida that had licensed care facilities. Florida decided to 
unlicense these facilities, and so we've been in constant touch 
with Florida.
    Mr. Tiffany. So, you said you've seen some of what was 
presented here. Do you dispute the study from Florida?
    Secretary Becerra. I have a number of issues with the 
Florida report.
    Mr. Tiffany. If you would share with me--and at an 
appropriate time, not today--if you want to share with me all 
the things you dispute in that study, in that presentment by 
Florida, I would really like to see it.
    Then, I want to take it to Florida and ask them, what were 
you lying about? Because, obviously, you're telling me that 
there's some misrepresentation by Florida here. Is that right?
    Secretary Becerra. One thing you could really help us with 
is checking with Florida to find out why they decided to not 
allow licensed caregivers be part of our program. All the kids 
that we place in care we try to place in licensed care 
facilities--
    Mr. Tiffany. Do you believe you're in charge of an assembly 
line, as the Chair alluded to?
    Secretary Becerra. If I could just conclude, the important 
thing about Florida is, Florida took affirmative action to 
unlicense centers that provide care--
    Mr. Tiffany. I'll wait for your answer in regard to Florida 
offline here. That'll be just fine.
    I want to ask you the Harris question. Would you change 
anything that you've done over the last four years in regard to 
illegal immigration?
    Secretary Becerra. Recognizing that we don't deal with 
immigration--that is part of DHS's authority--we deal with the 
care, the human services side of care for kids--
    Mr. Tiffany. Would you change anything that you've done in 
the last four years, with 320,000 children unaccounted for by 
your administration?
    Secretary Becerra. We work tirelessly to strengthen and 
approve the program of the UC (unaccompanied children) that 
come before us, and we work really hard to make sure we, first 
and foremost, protect the safety and the well-being of those 
kids. Every day is a challenge, and we do the best we can.
    Mr. McClintock. The gentleman's time has expired.
    The Chair recognizes Mr. Nadler for five minutes.
    Mr. Nadler. Mr. Secretary, since Mr. Tiffany kept cutting 
you off, would you answer the question about Florida that he 
asked?
    Secretary Becerra. Congressman, thank you, because I think 
this is very important.
    It's been very difficult to deal with some of the States 
because we seek out licensed care facilities, because that is 
the best practice to ensure child welfare. So, we don't place 
these kids with just anybody; they have to be folks who are 
licensed to care for kids.
    So, when we had our facilities in Florida, they were 
licensed. Florida took affirmative steps to say that they would 
not license any caregiver who took care of unaccompanied 
children. So, today, if a caregiver wants to come forward to 
provide services to these unaccompanied children we have at 
ORR, we cannot have them be licensed.
    So, what we have done is essentially set the floor of what 
licensing would be required for any caregiver in Florida to be 
able to care for our kids. We don't understand why any State 
would abrogate its responsibility of making sure caregivers are 
licensed caregivers.
    Mr. Nadler. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
    Mr. Secretary, as you may know, last year, there were media 
reports about how the Office of Refugee Resettlement did not 
know the whereabouts of tens of thousands of unaccompanied 
children who have been released to sponsors since the Biden 
Administration began. Some of my Republican colleagues have 
latched on to this headline to claim that the Biden 
Administration, quote, ``lost'' these children.
    Let's start with the most important question. Are those 
children actually lost by the Federal Government?
    Secretary Becerra. Yes, again, you're right, Congressman, 
that's the way it is framed. I want to be clear, we have not--
    Mr. Nadler. Can you explain why they're, in fact, not lost?
    Secretary Becerra. Yes. First, to be clear, we have not 
lost 85,000 kids.
    We make every effort--even after we lose the authority to 
continue to monitor the children once we have discharged them 
and placed them with a vetted sponsor, we make an effort, on 
our own dime essentially, to try to reach out to them. We 
make--we call--we do what we call ``safety and well-being 
calls.'' We try to reach the child and the sponsor three times 
by phone to check in.
    The children and the sponsors are not obligated to return 
our call. We can't require them to do so. By the way, even if 
they don't call back, that doesn't mean a child is lost.
    Mr. Nadler. What are some of the reasons a sponsor or a 
child might not answer when HHS does followup after release 
through a phone call?
    Secretary Becerra. I'm sorry, say that again.
    Mr. Nadler. What are the reasons a child or a sponsor might 
not answer when you followup with a phone call?
    Secretary Becerra. They may be in school. They may be at a 
doctor's appointment. They may not have the phone working 
anymore. There are any number of reasons why they don't answer.
    By the way, we do other things in an attempt to try to 
contact them, including, as I've mentioned, some of these post-
release services.
    Mr. Nadler. Can you discuss why the Office of Refugee 
Resettlement is not able to do more? For example, why does it 
not go to every sponsor's house in person to talk with each 
child after they're released?
    Secretary Becerra. Well, if we had the resources to do so, 
it would be far easier to have a program that really reaches as 
aggressively.
    What we don't do is shortchange in the vetting process. We 
make sure that we follow the best practices in the child 
welfare field when it comes to determining whether a child 
should be placed with a particular sponsor. Whether you're in 
foster care at the State level or whether you are protecting 
unaccompanied children in ORR, we use child welfare best 
practices.
    Mr. Nadler. Thank you. It seems like the only actual lost 
children are the 1,000 children that were separated from their 
parents by the Trump Administration that still have not been 
reunited to this day.
    Let's switch gears a bit. Mr. Secretary, thank you and all 
the hardworking staff at HHS for the important work you're all 
doing.
    While ORR does its best to care for unaccompanied minors, 
we know that the immigration system is broken, and that 
comprehensive immigration reform is needed.
    My Republican colleagues' marquee immigration legislation, 
H.R. 2, would allow unaccompanied children to languish in 
Border Patrol facilities for up to a month, force children to 
quickly appear before an immigration judge with no access to an 
attorney, and send children back to their home countries where 
they're at high risk for exploitation and abuse.
    Would this kind of legislation help or hurt unaccompanied 
children?
    Secretary Becerra. Congressman, what I will tell you is 
that, if you're going to have the best interests of that child 
in mind, you're going to try to be supportive of what they 
need.
    They are not adults. They don't know all the laws. They 
don't know all these proceedings, whether it's a silent 
proceeding or an immigration proceeding. You have to make sure 
that they are fully aware, and those who can be responsible, an 
adult who's supervising them, can be available to help them 
out.
    Mr. Nadler. So, this legislation would not help.
    In your opinion, is it better to allow children to remain 
in the United States with vetted sponsors while undergoing a 
robust legal proceeding or to summarily deport them with 
limited due process back to their home country and the 
dangerous situation they just fled?
    Secretary Becerra. Well, Congressman, again, I'm going to 
be careful. I'm the Secretary; I'm no longer a Member of 
Congress. I do know the laws when it comes to immigration.
    Asylum--once you have claimed asylum, you're entitled in 
this country to a hearing. You would have to change those laws 
before you're able to summarily remove those protections for 
those who claim asylum.
    Mr. Nadler. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.
    My time has expired.
    Mr. McClintock. Time has expired.
    Mr. Nadler. I yield back.
    Mr. McClintock. The Chair recognizes Mr. Roy of Texas.
    Mr. Roy. I thank the Chair.
    Thank you, Mr. Secretary, for appearing before the 
Subcommittee.
    You mentioned the State of Florida in the context of--I 
think you characterized it as not being willing to work with 
HHS.
    On September--I'm sorry, on March 29, 2023, a Florida Grand 
Jury released a report detailing the impact of the UAC influx 
at the Southern border. The grand jury made some of the 
following conclusions of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, 
the component agency within HHS entrusted to you, Mr. 
Secretary. Excerpt:

          A disturbing pattern has emerged whereby the same sponsor 
        applies to receive multiple UACs, sometimes at the same 
        address, sometimes at a different one. Some individual sponsors 
        apply to receive more than one child at more than one address 
        simultaneously.

          One address in Texas had 44 children sent to it. Another had 
        25. One sponsor in Bonita Springs, Florida, had multiple 
        children sent to multiple addresses, and he applied using 
        different versions of his hyphenated surname. One address in 
        Austin, Texas, had more than 100 UACs released to a single-
        family dwelling.

A town which I represent.
    Mr. Secretary, is this remotely consistent with the claims 
by your Department that you're doing everything in your power 
to ensure child security?
    Secretary Becerra. Congressman, thank you for the question.
    All potential sponsors, anyone who wishes to apply to 
sponsor a child, must undergo an extensive vetting process that 
follows child welfare best practices. We use a variety of 
tools. We try to monitor as best we can. Recently, through the 
Foundational Rule, we have established an even more extensive 
process for vetting as well.
    Mr. Roy. Do you believe that the HHS Foundational Rule from 
April 30, 2024, is consistent with what you just said in terms 
of background checks? Is it sufficient?
    Secretary Becerra. The foundation rule is what we've built 
to try to give us a better way to not only care for kids, but 
also make sure--
    Mr. Roy. Does it require full public records background 
checks?
    Secretary Becerra. I'm sorry?
    Mr. Roy. Does it require full public records background 
checks and FBI national criminal history checks?
    Secretary Becerra. As I said, we follow child welfare best 
practices when it comes to--
    Mr. Roy. Yes or no, though? Do you do the full criminal 
history checks for the potential sponsors of these children?
    Secretary Becerra. Well, yes, we follow best--child best 
practice--best practices--
    Mr. Roy. Right. The answer is no.
    Secretary Becerra. It's a yes. We follow child welfare best 
practices.
    Mr. Roy. That's not my question. My question is, do you do 
backgrounds checks, or do full criminal records public 
background checks for the FBI national criminal history?
    Secretary Becerra. We certainly check for criminal records. 
We check for sex offender in the sex offender registry. We do, 
again, the different things that the child welfare--
    Mr. Roy. The rule says you don't. The rule I'm talking 
about says you do not.
    Secretary Becerra. I'm sorry?
    Mr. Roy. The rule that we're talking about was released on 
April 30, 2024, says you do not.
    Secretary Becerra. We do not what?
    Mr. Roy. That you do not carry out FBI national criminal 
history checks for all potential sponsors.
    Secretary Becerra. We do background checks on every 
individual--
    Mr. Roy. Right, but that's a slippery description.
    What I'm saying is, this rule is pretty clear in what it's 
saying, that you do not provide the kind of background checks--
which, by the way, has created a problem.
    So, let me move on in the interest of time.
    Are you familiar with Maria Gonzalez, an 11-year-old girl 
who lived in Pasadena, Texas? In August 2023, Miss Gonzalez was 
allegedly raped and murdered by Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez, a 
Guatemalan national who appeared at the Southern border as a 
UAC in January 2023 and was 17 years old. A month later, HHS 
released Garcia-Rodriguez to a sponsor with a criminal history 
and who previously had two other UACs in his care. Failed to 
enroll them in school, as required by HHS.
    How about the situation with respect to another individual, 
Kayla Hamilton? Are you familiar with Walter Javier Martinez? 
Martinez was a 17-year-old from El Salvador who appeared at the 
border as a UAC in March 2022. Months later, in July 2022, he 
raped and murdered Kayla Hamilton, a 20-year-old woman in 
Maryland. After Martinez's release from the border and before 
Ms. Hamilton's tragic death, HHS released him to a sponsor in 
May 2022, despite Martinez having gang tattoos and an arrest 
record for illicit association with MS-13.
    Mr. Secretary, how can you credibly claim that HHS is 
working to protect these children?
    By the way, children we're talking about in the order of 
magnitude of 400-and-something-thousand children, which you are 
dismissing that they are lost.
    Let me ask you a very specific question, Mr. Secretary. Can 
you account for the whereabouts of those 400-and-something-
thousand children--the 320,000 that were put in the report by 
the Inspector General, the 85,000 that we've talked about 
before in 2023? Do you know where all these children are and 
that they are safe? Yes or no?
    Secretary Becerra. Congressman, as I explained the process, 
we get these kids when they are referred to us by the 
Department of Homeland Security. We then provide them with care 
while they are in our custody. We lose custody of those kids 
once we find a vetted sponsor with whom they can stay.
    Mr. Roy. A vetted sponsor that rapes and murders the people 
that they're entrusted to? Because you issue a rule that 
doesn't even do the background check? That's what you think is 
appropriate care for these children?
    Secretary Becerra. Congressman, as I said, we do background 
checks.
    Mr. Roy. I yield back, Mr. Chair.
    Mr. McClintock. The gentleman's time has expired.
    The Chair recognizes Mr. Correa of California.
    Mr. Correa. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    First, I want to welcome you, Secretary Becerra, to this 
Committee and wanted to remind you that you are under oath 
today, sir.
    Are you a father?
    Secretary Becerra. Three daughters.
    Mr. Correa. Care for them deeply? I think it's safe to say 
all of us here care for the welfare of all children, 
irrespective of if they're our blood. They're children, God's 
children. We take care of them, correct, sir?
    Secretary Becerra. Even if they aren't your blood children, 
you try to take care of them.
    Mr. Correa. As a Member of the Homeland Security Committee, 
I've had the opportunity to tour the border, both North and 
South border, down at Tijuana, those areas where a lot of 
refugees, asylum-seekers are actually held, waiting their turn 
to possibly come to the U.S.
    I also had the opportunity to tour a safe-house holding 
children that had been rescued from the sex trade South of the 
border. Children as young as eight years old rescued. If you 
looked at their faces, you knew that those kids had lived 
through unspeakable horrors.
    So, I want to ask you, sir, in your opinion, is it better 
to allow children to remain in the United States while they're 
being vetted, their sponsors are being vetted, and they're 
going through a robust legal procedure, or is it better to, 
essentially, summarily deport them with limited due process 
back to their home country or South of the border? Which, in 
your opinion, is best for those children?
    Secretary Becerra. Again, Congressman, respecting that I 
don't have immigration law within my jurisdiction, what I will 
tell you is that we've had decades of research on how best to 
care for kids, especially those who have undergone trauma. What 
you want to do is provide them with stability. You want to 
provide them with the care that they need. You want to make 
sure that they have a safe place to be. You want to make sure 
that they are well fed, they're not ill-equipped.
    That's what we do. It's a tough job. We do that for a lot 
of these kids who have gone through hardship and trauma. If you 
take them out of that setting, who knows where they will end 
up, what will happen to them.
    That is why, in fact, under the law, the Department of 
Homeland Security does not detain these kids and hold them. 
Because they detain adults. They're--it's an adult detention 
facility that's used for those who have to be held. That's not 
appropriate for kids. That's why, under the law, we get them.
    So, when you asked the question, I think you and I as 
parents--I have three daughters--I would want to make sure my 
children received the kinds of services that the experts over 
decades of time have said are the best way to help a child heal 
and treat the trauma and hardship they've suffered.
    Mr. Correa. I hear my colleagues from the other side of the 
aisle, colleagues from Texas, talking about children that are 
lost in the system, children that end up in areas not intended 
to.
    How long has this been going on? Is this something new? 
Refugees have been at our Southern border for a couple of 
decades, so how long has the U.S. Government been challenged to 
work through this issue, dealing with unaccompanied minors as 
they present themselves in chaotic situations at our border?
    Secretary Becerra. Congressman, as you're indicating, a 
number of administrations, numerous previous administrations 
have had to tackle these challenges--
    Mr. Correa. Both Republican and Democrat?
    Secretary Becerra. Republican and Democrat--dealing with 
the issue of unaccompanied children.
    By the way, ``lost''--you can't say because someone doesn't 
answer a phone call that it means they are lost.
    Mr. Correa. Is that part of the definition here we're 
using, that if you don't answer--if a sponsor doesn't pick up 
that phone, then that child is lost? Is that what you're 
saying?
    Secretary Becerra. That's what they're interpreting. The 
fact that a child may not answer a phone call that we place 
when we try to check in with them, they then--
    Mr. Correa. Mr. Secretary, we all have the best interests 
in mind of these children.
    Secretary Becerra. Yes.
    Mr. Correa. So, I'm concerned as well.
    What else do you need, what other tools, what other 
resources do you need so somebody else can make second, third, 
or fourth phone call, maybe have a personnel go out and check 
out that home situation? What do you need to make sure you 
increase the probability of a safe environment for those 
children?
    Secretary Becerra. Sir, to give you context, in 2021, when 
I began as Secretary, about one in every five kids we were able 
to reach through what we are calling our post-release services. 
Today, we provide that to 100 percent of the children that we 
release to a vetted sponsor.
    What could I use? What would help us? The resources to make 
sure we continue that. Because the moment you make cuts to our 
program, our first responsibility is to provide the care in the 
places that we have, and the secondary thing we can do is try 
to provide them with post-release services.
    So, if you cut the dollars that we use, if we don't have 
enough to do our principal responsibility of caring for these 
kids, we have to make cuts to things like post-release 
services.
    Mr. McClintock. The gentleman's time has expired.
    Mr. Correa. Mr. Chair, I yield.
    Mr. McClintock. The Chair recognizes Mr. Van Drew.
    Mr. Van Drew. Thank you, Chair.
    Secretary, I want to thank you for your service in 
Congress.
    I want to let you know, if you don't know already, I'm a 
blunt guy. So, you're going to have to forgive me in advance. 
What's going on here is bad.
    You talked about mandates. We have a human mandate, a 
humane mandate, and an American mandate. I hear lots of words 
where we talk about the bureaucracy, and we talk about all the 
speeches that everybody's giving and lots of money is the 
answer to it. Money sometimes helps, no doubt about it, but you 
have to have the basic rules, the basic foundation to do things 
right.
    Just before I go into some questions and ideas here, let's 
tell the truth. It's tell-the-truth time. We eased the 
background checks greatly. Yes, you do very often do background 
checks, but they're not good enough, and that was done in the 
rule. We allow those who want to refuse criminal background 
checks, and some kids are put in those homes and in danger.
    Having a criminal background is not prohibited. Let's tell 
the truth. I can read, this Committee can read, we all can 
read. We know what the truth is. That all sponsors are not 
vetted--that's the truth. That's what's really happening. Let's 
deal with the real world.
    You've played an integral role in establishing the 
Unaccompanied Children Program Foundational Rule. The details 
of the rule, to me, are so abhorrent that it's no wonder some 
of the worst individuals have been able to exploit it and slip 
into our country. It's no wonder that hundreds of thousands of 
unaccompanied alien children have gone missing under this 
watch.
    The details of the rule, in my opinion, are insane. We're 
dealing with kids; we're dealing with children. The rule allows 
sponsors to refuse background checks. As I said--let me say it 
again--a sponsor can refuse a background check, and they still 
can be eligible for taking on a vulnerable child.
    There's a new State adoption agency anywhere in this 
country, in any State in this country, that would allow this 
for any foster parent, for any adoptive parent, for any 
American citizen who wanted to adopt. Why are we not holding 
sponsors of unaccompanied children to at least the same 
standard that we hold them?
    The rule also fails to disqualify individuals with criminal 
records or child welfare violations from serving as sponsors. 
How wrong is that? Again, we wouldn't allow an adoptive 
American citizen to do that to an adopted child. Why do we let 
them?
    It gets worse. The rule also actively prevents the sharing 
of critical immigration-related information with enforcement. 
You said certain things aren't your job. That's what 
enforcement is there for. There should be a communication, 
there should be a dialog back and forth, especially when 
sponsors are under investigation for human trafficking or 
smuggling. You want to know that from the Feds. It's evil. It's 
wrong. I don't know how we justify it.
    The rule works to undermine age verification processes--and 
you can read it in the rule; I'm not making it up--which 
enables adults posing as children to exploit the system and 
gain easier access into the United States of America.
    Even if there is evidence of criminal backgrounds, the rule 
is designed to create barriers to placing the UACs in secure 
facilities. This Committee has seen the tragic real-world 
examples of it. Some of it was mentioned by my colleagues. 
Kayla Hamilton, 20-year-old young woman. She was brutally 
raped, she was brutally beaten, she was murdered by someone 
with ties to MS-13 who pretended to be a minor, and nobody 
stopped it. If we had done our job and put the safety of 
Americans and the safety of kids over processing illegals 
quickly, she would still be alive today.
    I associate myself with some of the remarks that 
Congressman Correa said. They're kids. We all love our kids. I 
know you love your kids. Think about that. This woman's dead. 
We're not going to bring her back, ever. There's no speech, no 
bureaucratic action that's going to bring her back.
    I've seen a lot of stuff, man. I've been in the State 
Senate, the State Assembly, County Commission, Mayor, 
Congresswoman now for six years. Man, I haven't seen too many 
rules that are worse than this rule, because it deals with 
kids, and it hurts children. It's bad for everyone involved. 
It's bad for taxpayers, it's bad for American communities, and 
it's bad, most importantly, for the undocumented children.
    So, I have some questions, and I've got 23 seconds. 
Secretary Becerra, I just want a yes or no: Knowing how this 
rule has worked, do you still believe it was the right answer 
to the border crisis? Yes or no? Yes or no?
    Secretary Becerra. Congresswoman--Congressman, the way 
you've interpreted the rule is not the rule that we passed, so 
it'd be tough to give you a yes or no.
    Mr. Van Drew. Well, your interpretation of the rule, do you 
think it was right?
    Secretary Becerra. Well, let me give you a quick example.
    Mr. Van Drew. I don't need an example.
    Secretary Becerra. We do a background check for any 
potential--
    Mr. Van Drew. I need a yes or a no. Mr. Secretary, I need a 
yes or a no. I can always answer questions ``yes'' or ``no.''
    Is the rule good? Is it what you want? Would you continue 
with it? Yes or no?
    Secretary Becerra. Congressman, you said we--OK--a sponsor 
can refuse a background check. That's not true. No sponsor who 
wishes to take a child can refuse a background check.
    Mr. Van Drew. I read the rule. I had people read the rule a 
whole lot smarter than me.
    Mr. McClintock. The gentleman's--
    Secretary Becerra. That's not the rule we enforce.
    Mr. Van Drew. I unfortunately have to yield back.
    Mr. Chair, I'd like to submit these questions to the Chair.
    Mr. McClintock. Without objection.
    Mr. McClintock. The gentleman's time has expired.
    Mr. Garcia?
    Mr. Garcia. Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity.
    Thank you, Secretary Becerra, for being here today and to 
your staff for all the work and the progress that has been made 
to a very imperfect system. Its history goes back a long, long 
ways.
    As a former and current foster parent, this issue is near 
and dear to my heart. I've seen some of the trials and 
tribulations that children have endured as it relates to 
trauma. I've seen their resilience. This remains a challenge to 
our system and certainly to your office and the Office of 
Refugee Resettlement.
    Is it fair to say that the protocols that you utilize in 
placing children are pretty similar to what most States in the 
Union utilize when placing children?
    Secretary Becerra. Foster-care programs also try to look to 
the best practices for child welfare. So, I can't say they're 
exactly the same, but we follow the best practices of child 
welfare professionals.
    Mr. Garcia. Those are pretty rigorous, I might say, as 
someone who is currently abiding by them so, yes.
    Secretary Becerra. Yes, you would know.
    Mr. Garcia. Most of these children arrive after 
experiencing severe trauma. Can you describe some of the 
resources that ORR provides to children as it relates to mental 
health and emotional well-being and if they're made available 
in other languages besides English?
    Secretary Becerra. So, yes, because so many of the kids 
come with no familiarity with language--with English, so we do 
provide language services support.
    In terms of behavioral health, we do a full assessment of 
the child once the Department of Homeland Security places them 
in our care, and we try to make sure we're checking for their 
physical and mental health to make sure we provide them with 
the professionals that they might need. So, that could be any 
number of things. Obviously, the smaller they are, the more 
intense and professional the service must be.
    On behavioral health and mental health services, we will do 
an assessment and then provide them with the services that they 
need in our care.
    Mr. Garcia. Inder your leadership, Mr. Secretary, HHS has 
finalized much-needed regulations aimed at protecting 
unaccompanied children. The regulation implements and codified 
protections required by the Flores settlement and enhances the 
legal framework, as well, for the care and treatment of 
unaccompanied children.
    Can you describe how the new regulations will help improve 
the protection of unaccompanied children?
    Secretary Becerra. Again, we're talking about the 
Foundational Rule, to respond to the previous questions by the 
Congressman, it would be inconsistent with the Flores 
settlement, the court case, for us not to do background checks. 
So, we must do background checks, not only because our rule 
says it, but because the case law says we must do it as well.
    What else do we do? We provide an Ombudsman office. That 
office is there to make sure staff or stakeholders can report 
any incident and do it with someone who's impartial and 
independent of the work that we do, to report any incidents 
that are of concern.
    We make sure that we provide enhanced medical services, to 
your point about behavioral health. We provide enhanced 
educational services to children. We try to provide legal 
advocacy services as well.
    Mr. Garcia. Thank you.
    My final question is, I'm asking you to look at the future 
from what you have internalized so far during your tenure in 
your position.
    As we continue to see migration driven by violence, 
political unrest, climate change, and economic instability, 
especially in the hemisphere, how is ORR preparing or should be 
preparing for potential future surges in possible unaccompanied 
children at the border?
    Secretary Becerra. We have--and this is an excellent 
question, Congressman, because we never have a clear sense of 
how many kids will come to our care from the Department of 
Homeland Security. Obviously, in 2021 there were large numbers. 
Today, we have got a system that really can manage the children 
that are coming to us.
    What we do is we have to prepare, because we can't afford 
to not have a place for a child if the consequence is to leave 
them in an adult detention facility at DHS. So, we make 
arrangements with potential care providers to have them 
available.
    We also have what we call ``emergency influx facilities'' 
that we can quickly ramp up in the event that we have a large 
influx of children so we can provide them the services they 
need.
    Mr. Garcia. Very well. Thank you very much.
    My time's almost expired. Mr. Chair, I yield back.
    Mr. McClintock. The gentleman yields back.
    The Chair recognizes Mr. Moore.
    Mr. Moore. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Mr. Secretary, welcome.
    Before my time, I understand that this Committee had three 
hearings on lost children under the Trump Administration. At 
that time, it was only a thousand lost children.
    If I remember correctly, there was a certain Member--and I 
won't give her name, but her initials are ``AOC''--that put on 
a white suit and went to the border to protest these thousand 
lost children.
    Now, my friend, The New York Times, actually--and this is 
not a Republican rag, by the way--reported in February 2023, 
HHS had lost over 85,000 unaccompanied children.
    My question to you is, as this process--I think you're in 
over your head. I think the administration has buried you. I 
don't think there's any way you can keep track of what's going 
on at the Southern border, and we're losing children by the 
droves.
    When you talk about background checks, how is it that one 
individual could have 20 children? How does that happen, Mr. 
Secretary?
    Secretary Becerra. Congressman, thanks for the question. 
Actually, I think I heard two questions there.
    The first is on ``lost''--85,000 ``lost'' kids. Again, not 
answering a phone call, that does not mean a child is lost--
    Mr. Moore. Mr. Secretary, let me tell you something. If my 
wife calls one of my kids and on about the second call we don't 
know where that child is, it is pandemonium around the Moore 
household.
    I've got news for you. When you're losing children to the 
tune of 85,000, there are parents somewhere in this world--and 
I don't know where the parents are--that are sending these 
children here for some reason. They are being trafficked or 
they are being used for child labor.
    Again, this is The New York Times--this is not a Republican 
talking point, this is not a Republican rag. This is The New 
York Times talking about the mismanagement of this 
administration of these children and how we've lost them.
    So, my question to you is, how does one sponsor get 20 
children? If we're background-checking, in fact, how does that 
happen?
    Secretary Becerra. Congressman, every sponsor must go 
through a background-check process. Every sponsor must be able 
to show--
    Mr. Moore. Mr. Secretary, what if they're a foreign 
national? Are you background-checking if they're foreign 
nationals? Is it possible that MS-13 is bringing their people 
across the border and taking custody of these children and 
putting them into trafficking and other unspeakable sort of 
things? Is that possible?
    Secretary Becerra. Remember, I mentioned in my opening 
testimony that the vast majority, 80-90 percent, of the kids 
that we place are placed with the parent, a very close 
relative--
    Mr. Moore. If you're not doing bioidentical--if you're not 
identifying these people with biometrics, how do you know 
they're the parents?
    Secretary Becerra. So, there are many ways to provide--or, 
to prove identity. You can look at citizenship--
    Mr. Moore. So, they can prove their identity to take 
custody of children but not to vote? Is that what you're 
telling me?
    Secretary Becerra. I'm sorry, can you repeat that?
    Mr. Moore. So, you're saying voter ID doesn't need to be 
required, there's no way to verify somebody's identity, but if 
they're going to take custody of a child from a foreign 
country, you're saying they do have an ID or they need to have 
an ID?
    Secretary Becerra. You said voter ID?
    Mr. Moore. Yes. What I'm saying, in other words, is you're 
requiring ID for these people supposedly to take these 
children, but then you're saying--many times on the left, they 
say, well, voter ID is racist or discriminatory.
    So, explain to me, how is it that you're verifying the ID 
of these people if they don't have IDs and nobody can get IDs?
    Secretary Becerra. Thank you for the question.
    Identity documents are one of the many tools that we use to 
try to ascertain the relationship of the child with the 
potential sponsor, but there are many other things that we'll 
do. If there's a sponsor that has not provided sufficient 
identification and proven that tie to the child, we can turn to 
things like fingerprinting if we need to.
    Mr. Moore. So, you think this person that got these 20 
children is related to all 20 of those kids? Is that what I'm 
hearing? Or--
    Secretary Becerra. What I can tell you again is that every 
sponsor must go through a vetting process to be able to sponsor 
any child.
    Mr. Moore. If they're a foreign national, we do vet those 
people as well? Or--
    Secretary Becerra. Anyone who wishes to apply to sponsor a 
child must go through the process. If they decline to go 
through the process, they cannot sponsor.
    Mr. Moore. Well, earlier, one of the members mentioned that 
a certain sponsor had kids delivered to different addresses. 
How do you cross-reference that? How do you justify that?
    Secretary Becerra. I'm not familiar with any case that 
you're referencing, but what I will tell you again is, when 
we--
    Mr. Moore. That was the Florida grand jury case, by the 
way.
    Secretary Becerra. --yes--go through the background checks, 
we ascertain any number of things, including residence, where 
the child will be placed.
    We check on the household members in that place as well, in 
the home. So, we go through the process of not only vetting 
sponsors, but we also check with those members in the 
household.
    Mr. Moore. So, in the Florida grand jury case, where the 
one child was delivered to the strip club, is that--did y'all 
vet that location? Was that considered a house? I mean, is a 
strip club now considered a house for children being trafficked 
or lost?
    Secretary Becerra. As I mentioned, Congressman, we can 
discuss the Florida report. There are many issues that we have 
with that report.
    Mr. Moore. Let me ask you a really quick question. I'm 
going to change subjects really quick. Many of the members had 
mentioned it, the Kayla Hamilton case, where Mr. Martinez, he 
came across as an unaccompanied child and then ended up killing 
Ms. Hamilton.
    How many UACs, unaccompanied children, now do we have in 
secure facilities, are you housing in secure facilities? Do you 
know?
    Secretary Becerra. We use secure facilities if we don't 
believe that we can manage the children or keep the children 
they would be around safe, or perhaps even for the safety of 
the individual.
    I don't have that number. I can take that back to my team.
    Mr. Moore. Yes, we'd be curious to know that.
    I'm trying to figure out how in the world we--I had a 
situation in one of my areas where a young lady was raped by a 
31-year-old that identified as an unaccompanied child, and he 
came to this country and then drug a 14-year-old girl into a 
restroom and raped her, and yet he was identified as a child.
    I don't know how you understand a 31-year-old--how does 
he--how do you identify that as a child? Is there any test on 
age when the kids come here? Do you get any documentation on 
birth certificates or anything like that?
    Secretary Becerra. You're going to many of the documents 
and the ways that we try to ascertain not just the child's 
identity, but also get into the background of anyone who wishes 
to sponsor.
    Mr. McClintock. The gentleman's--
    Mr. Moore. How does a 31-year-old identify as a child?
    Ms. Jayapal. Mr. Chair, it's way over time.
    Mr. McClintock. The gentleman's time has expired.
    Mr. Moore. I yield back.
    Mr. McClintock. Ms. Ross?
    Ms. Ross. Thank you, Secretary Becerra. I apologize for my 
tardiness.
    Secretary Becerra. No, no.
    Ms. Ross. I understand that some of the questions that I 
was going to ask you about unaccompanied minors have been 
covered, so I'm going to just find out what you think the 
status of Temporary Protected Status individuals are.
    Given the conflicts that are going on around the world and 
the people who are seeking asylum in so many different ways, 
could you reflect on where the Biden Administration has been 
with TPS and share advice that you would give to the incoming 
administration for how to deal with people who come here 
seeking refuge under TPS?
    Secretary Becerra. Congresswoman, you're taking me back to 
my days as a Member of this body--in fact, a Member of this 
Committee as well.
    As Secretary, we do not have jurisdiction over issues like 
Temporary Protected Status. That falls under the jurisdiction 
of the Department of Homeland Security.
    What I will tell you is this: The TPS process is one that 
has helped many individuals who have--are afraid that, if they 
return, they would return to violence and persecution.
    The Temporary Protected Status system has been in place 
under many administrations, Republican and Democratic. It is a 
way that we have been able to protect families--individuals and 
families from the harm that they could face if they were to be 
sent back home.
    Ms. Ross. My next question to you is: You've had this job; 
it's been a tough job because you inherited just a complete 
mess, particularly for unaccompanied minors and for family 
separation. You've made some progress.
    If you could give advice to the next Administration for 
maybe the top three things that they should do to build on the 
progress that you've made--we know nothing's perfect, but what 
should they do if they really wanted to make a difference in 
this area?
    Secretary Becerra. First, Congresswoman, safety and well-
being, that has to be always the first priority when it comes 
to unaccompanied children, is safety and well-being, 
recognizing that some of these kids are in our care after going 
through some truly traumatic experiences, some severe hardship.
    Our job is to try to help care for them, but our principal 
job is to place them in a better setting than the congregate 
care facilities that we have, because you want to help them--
help cure them from those devastating experiences that they 
have, and the best place to do that is in a home, in a 
community, and in a place where they can be with people who 
care for them. While we care for them, again, congregate 
settings, we do the best job we can.
    So, I would say, on top of always putting safety and well-
being at the top of your list, second, making sure you have the 
resources so that not only the care you give while they're with 
you is good but that you can help provide the services that 
help make them transition to a new sponsor, one that will work 
for the child.
    Ms. Ross. OK. Then, finally, what was the most 
inspirational thing you got to do, serving as Secretary?
    Secretary Becerra. Oh, my gosh. We're talking beyond the 
Unaccompanied Children Program?
    Ms. Ross. Yes. Yes. Because your term's coming to an end, 
and so it's always nice to reflect on something positive.
    Secretary Becerra. Yes. In all my notes, I didn't prepare 
for that question, Congresswoman.
    What I will tell you is that, watching as more Americans 
today have access to healthcare because they have their own 
health insurance than ever before. A record number, more than 
300 million Americans today, have their own health insurance 
coverage. That's never happened in the history of our country. 
President Biden made that possible.
    We have more people today--virtual country has been 
vaccinated against COVID, and so we've been able to function. 
We don't have to wear a mask everywhere we go, we don't have to 
distance, and we don't have to watch our loved ones die in 
isolation because we can't be with them.
    Having gone through a pandemic that none of us had 
experienced before was something that was a tremendous 
challenge, and watching how we tried to make sure America got 
healthy, so our economy got healthy was critical.
    I would simply say it's giving us a chance to do what we're 
supposed to do, is improve the health of the American people.
    Ms. Ross. Well, as a legislator from North Carolina, I want 
to thank you for your assistance with Medicaid expansion--
    Secretary Becerra. Absolutely.
    Ms. Ross. --because that's the most important thing that 
happened in our State during your tenure.
    Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I yield back.
    Mr. McClintock. The gentlelady yields back.
    On behalf of Mr. Biggs, the Chair requests unanimous 
consent to place into the record a copy of the appropriations 
language of funding ORR at $6.4 billion for Fiscal Year 2024.
    Mr. McClintock. The Chair recognizes Mr. Rulli for five 
minutes.
    Mr. Rulli. Mr. Chair, I yield my time back to the Chair.
    Mr. McClintock. Oh, well, thank you.
    Mr. Secretary, you mentioned, well, the three calls that 
you make to followup, could be they just aren't by the phone or 
they're at school or at work or something.
    So, OK, so you make the three calls, and you can't contact 
either the sponsor or the child. So now what?
    Secretary Becerra. Congressman, I would pose the question 
back to you, because our--
    Mr. McClintock. Well, now what? Do you just shrug your 
shoulders and go on?
    Secretary Becerra. No. That's why we have tried to expand--
    Mr. McClintock. Well, what are you doing then?
    Secretary Becerra. That's why we have expanded--
    Mr. McClintock. As Mr. Moore said, if it was my child and I 
couldn't get a hold of them or the person who's looking after 
them in three separate phone calls, I would be freaking out.
    Now, you're the surrogate parent in this case. What do you 
do after the three calls go unanswered? You're telling us, 
you're assuring us these children aren't lost, but how are you 
following up after that? Or are you?
    Secretary Becerra. Congressman, if you give me a chance to 
respond--because you pose a great question, because you and I, 
as parents, would want to make sure that we know what's going 
on with our children. We make every effort. We don't have--
    Mr. McClintock. Three calls, and then what after that?
    Secretary Becerra. Congressman, our responsibility is to 
provide care while they are in our custody. Under the law--
    Mr. McClintock. Mr. Secretary, you have dropped them off at 
a sponsor's house. You now can't get ahold of them. That's on 
you. What do you do after that?
    What I'm hearing back is you don't do anything. You shrug 
your shoulders and then send another batch of kids out to 
another group of sponsors' homes. That's frightening to me, and 
it's frightening to everybody who has watched this terrible, 
terrible situation unfold on your watch.
    Mr. Van Drew mentioned your Unaccompanied Children Program 
Foundational Rule and noted that this was a giant step back 
from rigorous vetting.
    Failure to categorically disqualify sponsors with criminal 
or other child welfare history concerns, instead requiring case 
managers to first consider a potential sponsor's resources and 
strengths, never mind that they've got a criminal conviction.
    Barring the sharing of immigrant information for potential 
sponsors with law enforcement officials; finding out, are these 
people trustworthy?
    Weakening the veracity of age determinations of UACs by 
requiring forensic evidence that indicates that an adult is 
posing as a UAC, in your rule's words, ``should not be used as 
sole determining factor but only in concert with other 
factors,'' and then shifting the burden of proof so that the 
ambiguous, debatable, or borderline forensic examination 
results are resolved in favor of finding the individual is a 
child.
    That doesn't sound like a step forward in rigorous vetting. 
That sounds like a step backward, to me.
    It was mentioned, Senator Grassley's finding, and one 
particularly disturbing case--that one child was placed with a 
known affiliate of the dangerous MS-13 gang. Now, according to 
the documents, HHS disregarded multiple warnings by a case 
manager about the potential danger of the UAC being placed in 
this home. This rigorous vetting that you're talking about--you 
were actually warned by the case manager that you were placing 
this child with an MS-13 gang member. That doesn't sound like 
rigorous vetting to me.
    Since January 20, 2021, when this administration took 
office, can you tell me the total number of unaccompanied 
children that HHS has placed with known or suspected gang 
members?
    Secretary Becerra. Was that a question for me?
    Mr. McClintock. Yes.
    Secretary Becerra. Please repeat the question. I thought 
you were making a comment.
    Mr. McClintock. The question is, how many children have 
been placed with known MS-13 gang members? We know of one. What 
do you know?
    Secretary Becerra. Congressman, obviously, when we go 
through the extensive vetting process, we make sure that--what 
we try to do is place them with someone who'll keep them safe. 
Obviously, someone who is involved in gang activity would not 
be someone we would consider to be safe.
    Mr. McClintock. Yet, you did so anyway after you were 
warned by the case manager.
    You've placed, what, 440 UACs with sponsors--440,000--
during your tenure?
    Secretary Becerra. We have placed a large number. I don't 
know if that's the precise number, but a large number.
    Mr. McClintock. Well, again, you assure us that the 
Department undertakes rigorous background reviews of all these 
sponsors. So, can you tell me how many sponsors have been 
rejected for failing to pass background checks?
    Secretary Becerra. Well, certainly, no sponsor who--where 
we flagged certain activity, whether it's criminal records, 
where we flagged--
    Mr. McClintock. Well, how many have you flagged?
    Secretary Becerra. I certainly can try to get back to you 
with some information on that. I could take that back to my 
team. I don't have a number with me as we speak.
    Mr. McClintock. Do you know how many you've disqualified 
because of previous murder convictions?
    Secretary Becerra. I don't have those kinds of numbers.
    Mr. McClintock. How about child abuse convictions?
    Secretary Becerra. Certainly, none of those individuals, 
when they go through the vetting process, would be able to go 
through--
    Mr. McClintock. What about trafficking and child 
pornography?
    The Ranking Member reminds me that my time--Mr. Rulli's 
time has expired.
    The Chair now recognizes Mr. Hunt of Texas.
    Mr. Hunt. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    The Biden-Harris Refugee Resettlement Program is not your 
grandfather's refugee program, and I'm going to tell you why.
    I grew up thinking that ``refugees'' meant the most 
vulnerable people in the world--but not so much under the 
Biden-Harris Administration. The left can never leave anything 
alone and not even the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program. 
President Biden has reimagined U.S. refugees.
    You might've missed this, but the Biden-Harris 
Administration in January 2023, created a program called the 
Welcome Corps. Under the Welcome Corps program, U.S. permanent 
residents--noncitizens--can recommend and sponsor noncitizens 
to be U.S. refugees. Yes, you heard that correctly. Noncitizens 
can sponsor noncitizens to become refugees in my America.
    Let's make an analogy that the liberal elites will 
understand. Imagine you are a member of a country club. You pay 
dues, and you enjoy all the benefits that come with being a 
member of that club. Then, one day, you invite a guest to visit 
the country club, and then the guest invites another nonmember 
to visit the club, and before you know it, the membership is 
irrelevant. Another member may then ask, how are you inviting 
people to the club? Are you a member? The guest will say, no, 
but I'm a lawful permanent resident.
    The whole purpose of reimagining the U.S. refugee program 
is to demean and devalue what it means to become a U.S. 
citizen. Citizenship matters. Borders matter.
    Having borders is the difference between having a country 
run by President Trump or by a Haitian warlord, Barbecue. I am 
sure that some of you are familiar with the recent Spirit 
Airlines flight that landed in Haiti and was immediately met 
with gunfire. As I said, borders are important.
    In 2020, under President Trump, close to 12,000 refugees 
were admitted into the United States. Just this past year, 
under the Biden Administration, the number of admitted refugees 
has ballooned to over 100,000 people, the highest number in 
three decades.
    Let me tell you about another Biden-Harris initiative for 
noncitizens. The Biden-Harris Administration has the initiative 
for refugees called the New Americans Partnership, which is an 
initiative that fosters collaboration between housing agencies 
and refugee resettlement agencies to support the housing needs 
of said new Americans.
    New Americans? What about the Americans that are already 
here? Americans are dreamers too. Americans are refugees too. 
They're refugees of Democrat-run cities. Now, I am sure there 
are Americans living in Inglewood who would love to move to 
Beverly Hills. I'm sure there are Americans living in Harlem 
that would love to move to the Upper East Side. I am sure there 
are Americans living in the South side of Chicago who would 
love to move to Lake Forest.
    Take a look at the last census. Americans are fleeing 
Democrat-run States for the haven of Republican States. Why is 
that?
    Under the Biden-Harris Administration, Americans are left 
behind while the needs of new Americans are pushed to the front 
of the line of taxpaying Americans. There's a reason why 
President Trump won every swing State this year and the first 
Republican to win the popular vote in 20 years. Americans are 
sick and tired of being treated like second-class citizens in 
our own country.
    President Trump created opportunity zones for Black 
Americans. President Biden and Democrat mayors created 
opportunity zones for illegal immigrants. For the left, it's 
the new Americans first and Americans last.
    I've said this before. It's not the ``Great Replacement'' 
theory; this is the definition of the ``Great Replacement'' 
fact. The left wants to allow millions of people into this 
country, whether that be legally or illegally, so that United 
States citizenship means essentially nothing.
    In this country, we don't have Americans--or old Americans 
or new Americans; we just have my fellow Americans. Now that 
President Trump is back, I'm happy to say that all American 
citizens will be treated with respect once again.
    With that, I yield back my time. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Mr. McClintock. The gentleman yields back.
    The Chair now claims his own five minutes to sum up the 
concerns I have with all of this checking that you keep 
assuring us is so rigorous.
    Your ORR Director, Dunn Marcos, told the Committee that HHS 
routinely contacts foreign consulates or embassies to verify 
UACs' documents. Is that correct?
    Secretary Becerra. We work with the consulate offices, Mr. 
Chair, to try to--
    Mr. McClintock. You verify the information of these 
children with the consulate. When you're doing that, do you 
ever ask for the child's criminal history?
    Secretary Becerra. We continue--
    Mr. McClintock. Again, we're talking about adolescents here 
and sometimes adults pretending to be teenage--or, pretending 
to be adolescents.
    Secretary Becerra. As I've said before, Mr. Chair, we are 
not a law enforcement agency, we're not an immigration agency--
    Mr. McClintock. No, you're a placement agency. You're 
placing these children in what you keep assuring us are 
carefully vetted homes. Yet, according to your own ORR Director 
admitting to this Committee in a transcribed interview that 
when HHS contacts the consulate to verify information on the 
UAC, they do not ask for any criminal background information on 
that UAC. So, they don't know if it's a gang member, and they 
don't ask.
    Why would she tell us this?
    Secretary Becerra. Congressman, we go through a vetting 
process to ensure that we know who the child is and then for 
the placement--
    Mr. McClintock. You--yes--of course.
    That's what she testified. Then she also testified that you 
specifically do not inquire into the criminal background of 
these individuals who are 17 years old and sometimes older and 
pretending to be 17, with gang tattoos, with gang affiliations.
    While you have got them on the phone and you are verifying 
information on that UAC, you don't bother to ask, ``Oh, by the 
way, is this an MS-13 gang member? Does this individual have a 
criminal history?''
    Then you place them in foster homes, you release them into 
our communities, and there are some cases, tragic cases, where 
they go on to murder innocent Americans like Kayla Hamilton.
    Mr. Tiffany asked you, is there anything you'd do 
differently, looking back on these past four years. Is there 
anything you'd do differently in the Kayla Hamilton case?
    Secretary Becerra. Mr. Chair, we work closely with the 
Department of Homeland Security, which does the vetting for 
these children when they first enter into the country--
    Mr. McClintock. You're placing them--you are the ones that 
are placing them in people's homes. You're the one who's 
telling me,

        Don't worry about it. They're all carefully vetted. They're all 
        secure. Don't worry that we can't reach them by phone after 
        we've placed them in these homes. It might be they just weren't 
        paying attention to the phone.

    Do you understand how this--do you understand how this 
affects the lives of a population that you've placed that's 
approaching the size of the State of Wyoming? Some of them, 
innocent defenseless children; others, gang members who are 17 
years old or even older, pretending to be 17 years old.
    You're in charge of all this. You can't tell us if there's 
anything you'd even do differently after four years of this 
nightmare that has unfolded not only for our country, but for 
these children and their families.
    What do you have to say for yourself, Mr. Secretary? This 
is the end of this administration. It's the end of your tenure. 
What do you have to say for yourself?
    Because the words that keep haunting me are those that 
Cromwell spoke to the Long Parliament:

        You have sat here too long for any good you have been doing. It 
        is not fit that you should sit here any longer. You shall now 
        give way to better men. Now, depart and go, I say. In the name 
        of God, go.

    Secretary Becerra. Mr. Chair, if you will allow me, then, 
to respond.
    We work closely with various agencies. In the case of the 
vetting of the child, it is the Department of Homeland Security 
that does the initial vetting, because they're the ones that 
have custody of that child once the child is in the U.S. The 
Department of Homeland Security is the agency that goes through 
that process of trying to determine who this child is, 
including those issues that you have mentioned with regard to 
any past criminal conduct.
    When we receive the children, the Department of Homeland 
Security shares with us the information they have compiled on 
that child. From there, what we try to do is make sure we care 
for the child, and in the process of trying to find them a 
sponsor where they can live in a community, we go through the 
vetting of the individual potential sponsor.
    Mr. McClintock. Mr. Secretary, when the history of this 
administration is written, I would not want to be you looking 
back on what historians say about your tenure. I'm sorry, but 
that's the fact.
    If there's no further business to be brought before the 
Subcommittee, the Subcommittee will stand adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 3:33 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]


    All materials submitted for the record by the Members of 
the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and 
Enforce-
ment can be found at the following links: https://
docs.house.gov/
Committee/Calendar/ByEvent.aspx?EventID=117565.

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