Congressmen Glenn Grothman of Glenbeulah and Lance Gooden of Texas have introduced the “Migrant Child Safety Act”, a bill to protect unaccompanied migrant children inside the United States by accurately identifying and screening sponsors.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement is tasked with placing unaccompanied migrant children with sponsors who are deemed capable of caring for the child’s well-being, unfortunately, reports show that the ORR has prioritized the speedy release of the children rather than their safety.
As a result of this, thousands of migrant children have been placed with sponsors that have no relation to the child or may be in the country illegally, and the ORR has lost contact with 85,000 children they have placed with these sponsors.
This new bill would require the ORR to collect information from sponsors including their name, contact information, date of birth, social security number, proof of address, immigration status, and results of a background check.
Sponsors would also have to prove familial relations and would require the ORR to report a migrant child as missing to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children 120 days after placement if the ORR is unable to contact the sponsor.
