HHS Report Signals Massive Surge in Illegal Alien Youth

Brittany M. Hughes | November 30, 2015
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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reports a massive surge in illegal alien youth crossing the U.S. border illegally in over the past few months, according to a news release from Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.).

A department official reports the number of unaccompanied minors that will be referred to the Administration for Children and Families at HHS this November is expected to be nearly triple the number of referrals sent last November, and more than 1.5 times the number of referrals in November of 2013.    

The warning, sent via a forwarded email from Sessions’ office, came from Barbara Pisaro Clark, the -- take a deep breath -- deputy director for Human Services Legislation at the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Legislation at HHS. In her weekly update on the number of illegal alien youth referrals sent to HHS’s Administration for Children and Families, Clark wrote:

Based on twenty-four days of November referrals, ACF projects a November total of 5,200 referrals.   Referrals have averaged 205 over the last four days.  If referrals remained at this average for a month, referrals would total 6,165.

…The number of children in care is approximately 6,600. ACF has a total bed capacity of 8,400.



Clark also passed along a chart showing just how many illegal alien minors have been referred to ACF compared to the last two Novembers, adding, “As the below table shows, monthly referral totals are substantially above those in the previous two years.”

 

September

October

November

2015

4,173

4,603

5,200

2014

1,520

1,853

1,927

2013

2,479

2,903

3,320

*

Estimate

 

 


Data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection supports the claim that the number of illegal aliens -- including unaccompanied minors -- has been rising over the past few months. The latest border apprehension report from CBP shows illegal alien family unit apprehensions in October were up 179 percent from October of last year. Similarly, unaccompanied minor apprehensions were up 97 percent from last October.

Most unaccompanied alien minors referred to ACF are eventually sent to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) for processing before being shipped off to sponsors, usually a relative, already living within the United States.

In fiscal years 2014-15, ORR released 81,038 illegal alien children into the country to live with sponsors.

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