Dear Secretary Azar:
Over the past several weeks, I have repeatedly requested details from you and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials regarding implementation of President Trump’s cruel and heartless policy of separating families arriving at the U.S. border. I have yet to receive answers from your Department on how parents and children are being informed about each other’s safety, where they are located, the age of the children and if the tender-aged children are being cared for appropriately, and if and when parents and children will be reunited-and appallingly, whether the Trump Administration has any plan to reunite these families at all. HHS has also failed to provide estimates of additional funding that will likely be needed to provide adequate care for the children in its custody.
Your continued failure to respond, and the horrific reports I have seen regarding the federal government’s treatment of children in its custody, make it frighteningly clear the Department and the Trump Administration as a whole have absolutely no concern for the wellbeing of thousands of children and parents whom they have caused great pain and continued trauma. I request that you respond immediately with the information I have requested, work to reunite the families you have aided in separating, and commit to providing regular, substantive updates to Congress regarding your Department’s reunification efforts and contingency planning.
As a result of President Trump’s deliberate family separation policy, at least 2,300 children who arrived in the United States with their families have been taken from their parents and placed in the custody of the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), an agency that reports indicate is clearly unprepared to care for the surge of children in its custody and that may have awarded grants to several private shelters with repeated allegations of child abuse.[1] I have seen news reports and heard accounts from advocates and health care providers detailing the abuse and trauma inflicted on children, including allegations that children in ORR facilities have been drugged without consent and that children’s medical and psychological information may be being shared in immigration courts.[2] In addition, both children and their parents continue to face total uncertainty about whether they will be reunited.
Yesterday, after weeks of defending his inhumane policy, President Trump stated he “didn’t like the sight or the feeling of families being separated" and signed an executive order he claims will “keep families together."[3] This terribly misguided Executive Order, trades a policy of tearing families apart for a policy of locking them up. There are still many questions about how President Trump’s new policy will be implemented and whether the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will in practice continue to separate children from their parents. The Order is also completely unclear with regard to children who have already been separated from their parents. In fact, a spokesperson from your Department stated declaratively yesterday that “there will not be special efforts made to reunite children who have already been separated from their families" under the so-called zero tolerance policy, before reversing course several hours later and stating “reunification is always the ultimate goal."[4]
As so many people across the country are, I am deeply concerned about the thousands of families who the Trump Administration has left to suffer for months without information and about the safety of the children currently in HHS custody. I again request that HHS immediately schedule a briefing with me and my staff regarding the policies in place concerning ORR’s unaccompanied alien children (UAC) program for children separated from their parents at the border, respond to my questions in detail, and commit to providing regular updates to Congress going forward. While it is important that you answer the questions I posed to you several weeks ago, the evolving nature of this crisis has understandably led to additional questions and concerns since my initial request. Therefore, please ensure the briefing covers the following questions:
Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter. If you have any questions, or would like to further discuss compliance with this request, please contact Jake Cornett with my HELP Committee Staff at 202-224-0767.
Sincerely,
Patty Murray
United States Senator
Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Health Education, Labor, and Pensions
