A recent investigation has revealed significant failures on the part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services concerning the safety of unaccompanied migrant children who enter the borders of the United States. The Office of Refugee Resettlement, which belongs to HHS and is responsible for these children, has faced criticism for poorly vetting sponsors and failing to follow up on safety checks. More than 85,000 migrant children have reportedly gone missing when placed with sponsors, raising concerns their safety may be at risk and whether they end up being forced to work. Many children have ended up working in hazardous conditions—factories and construction sites—which is against child labor laws.
The situation had been further fueled by the unprecedented number of migrant children sent for refuge to HHS, which overwhelmed the system. The critics say that though this was initially caused by the high number of migrant children sent for refuge to HHS, overwhelming the system, the administration under Joe Biden has exacerbated this by allowing a policy that puts pace in churning out the children for settlement over their safe vetting. In response to this, the government began to propagate these concerns by trying to increase monitoring and crack down on child labor violations. This also contains the establishment of a task force in coordination with the Labor Department in order to provide better protective services and case management for the migrant children. However, large challenges still remain to the well-being and safety of such vulnerable children who are dealing with the labyrinth of immigration proceedings.
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