During a hearing on child sex and labor trafficking Wednesday, Republican Senator Josh Hawley exposed the Administration for Children and Families, a subsidiary of the Department of Health and Human Services, for engaging in the practices.
Under questioning from Hawley, ACF Director Robin Dunn Marcos failed to explain agency failures to properly vet adults who claim unaccompanied minors. She also couldn’t detail where unaccompanied minors were located after releasing them from government custody.
“Do you really think that you are helping these children by releasing them to labor traffickers and yes, sex traffickers?” Hawley asked, highlighting the number of children the agency has lost. “85,000 children whom you have no contact with and your answer is—we gave them a presentation before we turned them over to these people who are exploiting them on a scale not seen in this country for 100 years.”