Government watchdog Judicial Watch is suing the Biden administration after the Department of Health and Human Services stonewalled document requests related to child abuse in border facilities.
"We are concerned that the surge of migrants seeking to take advantage of the Biden's administration lax immigration policies has resulted in the foreseeable abuse of children, as overwhelmed federal authorities are ill-equipped to handle the huge number of children crossing the border. The unprecedented secrecy and censorship surrounding these sites compounds the problem and limits accountability," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said about the lawsuit. "Our lawsuit aims to expose the full truth about this particularly troubling consequence of the Biden administration's lawlessness on immigration."
After seeking documentation through a Freedom of Information Act request, which was rejected, Judicial Watch is suing for the following:
All summaries from individual case files of reports of physical and/or sexual abuse or assault of Unaccompanied Alien Children under the care of HHS, its sub-agencies, and or volunteer agencies, contractors, grantees, and sub-grantees, to include all segregable, non-exempt information.
Records reflecting aggregated data of physical and/or sexual abuse and assault of UACs under the care of HHS, its sub-agencies, and or volunteer agencies, contractors, grantees, and sub-grantees.
In addition to rejecting FIOA requests, the Biden administration has kept reporters and media out of border facilities for months. Republican and Democrat lawmakers who visited the facilities were told not to take photos or videos of the conditions.
These are the pictures the Biden administration doesn’t want the American people to see. This is why they won’t allow the press.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 26, 2021
This is the CBP facility in Donna, Texas.
This is a humanitarian and a public health crisis. pic.twitter.com/UlibmvAeGN