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CV NEWS FEED // The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) allocated more than $22.6 billion in grants to migrants between 2020 and 2024, according to a Thursday New York Post exclusive.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), a division of HHS, distributed billions of dollars to various nonprofits and cash to migrants, a practice that critics say incentivized the historic spikes in illegal immigration that took place during the past four years.
The taxpayer-funded grants provided financial assistance to migrants, including cash for purchasing cars and homes, along with support for building credit and starting businesses.
According to The Post, the largest portion of funding – $12.4 billion over five years – was spent on programs supporting unaccompanied migrant children.
Despite the significant spending, the ORR faced heavy criticism for losing track of 320,000 migrant children and for placing some with unvetted sponsors, raising concerns about safety and exploitation.
In November, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra came under intense scrutiny during a hearing regarding “the hundreds of thousands of migrant children reportedly unaccounted for under the Biden-Harris administration,” CatholicVote reported.
“The lawmakers expressed particular concern over the government reportedly placing migrant children with pimps, gang members, and even sex offenders, allowing threatening people to serve as ‘sponsors.’”
The ORR’s website states that its mission is “to promote the health, well-being, and stability of refugees, unaccompanied alien children, and other eligible individuals and families.”
Human trafficking expert Alicia Hopper highlighted the abuse of one girl as an example of the “danger loopholes” in the system “that have led to widespread exploitation,” according to The Post.
When questioned, Becerra could not provide a clear answer about the missing children, stating, “We do the best we can.”
In fiscal year 2023 alone, the agency distributed more than $10 billion to various organizations, while dramatically increasing the number of noncitizens eligible for funding.
This surge in spending coincided with an unprecedented increase in border crossings. Customs and Border Protection recorded 2.4 million encounters that fiscal year – the highest number since the government began tracking the data in 1960.
The nonprofit government watchdog group OpenTheBooks criticized the ORR’s programs for acting as “magnets” for illegal immigration and for outsourcing taxpayer funds to ideological nonprofits.
OpenTheBooks CEO John Hart told The Post, “ORR is part of a troubling trend of using nonprofit groups as ideological proxies. Vast sums are being outsourced to evade accountability and prop up an immoral, exploitive system that is hurtful to both American citizens and people in other countries who are longing for a better life.”
