Approximately 85,000 children who crossed the U.S. border as unaccompanied minors are missing after being placed with sponsors. Government whistleblowers shared this information with a Senate panel on Tuesday. They said that children are often placed with individuals who are not their relatives and provided evidence of abuse and trafficking.
Tara Lee Rodas, a whistleblower with a 20-year federal career, described her experiences at the Pomona Fairplex Emergency Intake Site, where she served as Deputy to the Director of the Federal Case Management Team.
One case involved a 16-year-old Guatemalan girl named Carmen, who was placed with a man claiming to be her brother but who subsequently posted child pornography online.
Rodas also stated that gangs like MS-13 are involved in child placement. Despite warnings, authorities retaliated against her rather than investigate her claims.
Whistleblower Deborah White alleges that sponsors are rarely vetted face-to-face and fake documents are pervasive.
“Children were not going to their parents. Children were being trafficked with billions of taxpayer dollars by a contractor failing to vet sponsors and process children safely, with government officials complicit in it,” she said.
The oversight of sponsors by the Department of Human Services involved minimal follow-up, typically limited to a single phone call 30 days post-placement. By that time, many children could no longer be contacted.
No comments:
Post a Comment