HHS Documents Reveal Incidents of Sexual and Physical Abuse of Unaccompanied Migrant Children

On Wednesday, the non-profit organization Judicial Watch released 41 pages of documents demonstrating instances of sexual and physical abuse against unaccompanied minors while under the care of the United States’ Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The story: After filing a successful Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, Judicial Watch received documentation alleging sexual and physical abuse against unaccompanied minor migrants in facilities managed by HHS staff and contractors.

The documents show that there were 33 reports of sexual abuse in the one-month time period between January 21, 2021 and February 26, 2021.

In detail: Of those cases, 10 of the reports indicated that the sexual abuse was at the hands of staff or “non-staff” adults; 21 of the reports showed that the sexual abuse occurred between unaccompanied minors; and two of the reports listed the sexual abuse as between an unaccompanied minor and “other.”

The documents released by Judicial Watch also detailed an instance of physical abuse that occurred on February 22, 2021 at the Baptist Children and Family Services shelter in Baytown, Texas.

In that instance, a 17-year-old boy from Guatemala was punched in his ribcage by his roommate. The boy did not discuss the incident with shelter officials, and ultimately, the staff did not investigate the incident, nor did they report it to local law enforcement.

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton believes these alleged crimes are the by-products of Biden’s immigration policies.

“These documents show that not only are there shocking reports of sexual abuse occurring in shelters for unaccompanied children, but that there is violence amongst the UACs themselves,” Fitton said. “It is no surprise that Biden administration’s enabling of human trafficking has resulted in violence and the abuse of children.”

Worth noting: Back in April of 2021, Texas Governor Greg Abbott spoke to the press about his concerns over reports at the time of sexual assault at a San Antonio facility housing unaccompanied migrant children.

He stated that the purpose of his press conference was to bring attention to the Biden Administration, in hopes that the federal government would re-locate the children to facilities with more “space, personnel and resources to ensure safety.”

“In short, this facility is a health and safety nightmare,” Abbott concluded.