DNC Chair Makes the Position Clear: The Dems Won't Condemn Those Who Want...
Rashida Tlaib's Unhinged Tweet Got Slapped Down By This GOP Senator With a...
ICE Raid in Camarillo, CA Devolved Into a Total Circus
Trump Issues Brutal Threat to Senate Republicans Who Oppose DOGE Spending Cuts
Mahmoud Khalil Is Suing the Trump Administration. Guess How Much He's Seeking in...
Log Off Social Media and Return to the Real Things
Washington Post CEO Has a Message for Staffers As the Outlet Heads in...
State Department Tells Employees Mass Layoffs Are Coming Soon
DHS Has a Question for Newsom After Who Was Found Working at California...
Here's How Many Illegal Aliens Need to Be Arrested Each Day Just to...
There’s More Details About America's Largest Teachers Union's Blatant Antisemitism
The Education Department Will End This Illegal Biden-Era Loan Policy
John Kerry: Trump Was Right About the Border
How to Destroy a City Without Bombs: Mamdani’s Rent Control Plan
A Bold First Step in Dismantling the National Firearms Act
Tipsheet

Obama's Senior Immigration Advisor: No, Trump's Administration Isn't Losing Kids at the Border

For two weeks we've seen headlines across mainstream media news outlets that the Trump administration is not only inhumanely separating children from their parents at the border, but they've lost approximately 1500 unaccompanied minors in the process. 

Advertisement

This assertion is blatantly false and President Obama's White House Domestic Policy Council advisor Cecilia Munoz, who regularly advised the president on immigration issues, just proved it. Munoz oversaw the handling of the unaccompanied minor crisis of 2014, when children were sleeping in cages at federal detention and processing centers. From an interview with NPR (bolding is mine): 

INSKEEP: Well, that leads us to the next step. HHS - that's the Department of Health and Human Services. Recently, they did a survey of children, like asking what happened to them, where are they now, and 1,475 or so who were supposed to be tracked by the agency were missing. Are those some of these same unaccompanied minors?

MUNOZ: That's exactly who these kids are. Right. So HHS - its job is to place the kids in the least restrictive setting. In the vast majority of cases, those kids had parents in the United States. Most of the time, those parents were also here illegally. So what I think has happened with those missing cases is in many cases those parents and kids have been reunited and they've gone off the grid. They don't want to be contacted by a government agency.

INSKEEP: Wait a minute. When I hear 1,475 kids missing, it sounds like an outrage. Are you telling me I shouldn't be that outraged?

MUNOZ: Well, look, there's always reason to be concerned. This is an agent - a federal agency which placed kids, in most cases, with their own families. That doesn't mean that every placement is terrific, but it's - the most likely case is that these are undocumented families and they don't want contact with the federal government. 

Advertisement

Munoz is correct. Federal immigration authorities and Health and Human Services officials place unaccompanied children with sponsors or parents living in the U.S. illegally. Often times when they call as a followup, illegal immigrants don't answer the phone. 

“DHS has continued the previous administration policy," a senior Trump administration said earlier this week during a briefing on the issue. “This is a policy that has not changed from the previous administration.”

“We do place children here with people or parents who are here illegally," the official continued. “We are not able to deny placement [of children] to people in the country illegally.”

On the issue of children being separated from parents at the border, this is done for a few reasons. First, to verify the child actually belongs to a parent and isn't being trafficked. Second, every individual who crosses the border illegally is prosecuted by the Department of Justice. 

"A crisis has erupted at our Southwest Border that necessitates an escalated effort to prosecute those who choose to illegally cross our border,” Attorney Jeff Sessions announced in April. "Illegally entering this country will not be rewarded, but will instead be met with the full prosecutorial powers of the Department of Justice."

Advertisement

When parents are arrested and taken in for processing to an adult detention facility, the children are not taken with them. Again, this is for the protection of the child and federal government policy does not allow children to be detained in adult centers for a number of reasons, safety included.

H/T Twitchy 

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Recommended

Trending on Townhall Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement