Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley and Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein are calling on the Health and Human Services (HHS) inspector general to investigate “the alleged and long-term pattern of sexual abuse” against migrant minors in HHS custody. “It is appalling and unacceptable that from October 2014 to July 2018, HHS received 4,556 complaints of sexual assault and the Department of Justice received 1,303 complaints. Even more disturbing—these numbers include 178 allegations of sexual abuse by adult staff.”
The allegations were raised by House Democrats during a hearing last week, where HHS officials were more offended at being called abusers than about the actual abuse happening to migrant children. According to Grassley and Feinstein, they wrote to the inspector general about reported abuse of migrant kids last July, and “were told that the Inspector General was reviewing health and safety issues at these facilities. However, we have not received the findings of the investigation.”
The fact that there’s been no accountability is horrific in light of the fact that the Trump administration has had a record number of migrant children in custody, the vast majority of them kids who came to the U.S. by themselves. As the letter notes, nearly 1,600 children are being held in one unlicensed prison camp in Florida alone. Officials have tried to make children’s jails like Homestead look normal and orderly, but there’s nothing normal about this. Kids do not belong in detention, period.
“Recent public reports allege that many cases of sexual assault in child care centers are not fully investigated by HHS,” the senators continued. “We find it intolerable and inexcusable that child care operators are not immediately investigating reports, contacting and fully assisting law enforcement, preserving evidence, and demanding justice for these children.” Free the kids and hold the abusers accountable—now.