RALEIGH — A report from the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the U.S. can’t account for approximately 291,000 detained migrant children.
In its Aug. 19 report, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) states, “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could not monitor the location and status of all unaccompanied migrant children (UCs) or initiate removal proceedings as needed.
“During our ongoing audit to assess ICE’s ability to monitor the location and status of UCs who were released or transferred from the custody of the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), we learned ICE transferred more than 448,000 UCs to HHS from fiscal years 2019 to 2023.
“However, ICE was not able to account for the location of all UCs who were released by HHS and did not appear as scheduled in immigration court. ICE reported more than 32,000 UCs failed to appear for their immigration court hearings from FYs 2019 to 2023.”
The report also says that as of May 2024, ICE had not served Notices to Appear for “more than 291,000″ unaccompanied children.
Communication might be an issue, with the OIG report stating, “ICE does not have an automated process for sharing information internally between the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) and ERO, and externally with stakeholders, such as HHS and the Department of Justice (DOJ), regarding UCs who do not appear in immigration court.”
The OIG’s report also says these children are at a “higher risk” for being in a dangerous situation.
“Based on our audit work and according to ICE officials, UCs who do not appear for court are considered at higher risk for trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor,” states the report.
The OIG recommendations include ICE developing automated systems for information sharing and implementing formal processes to identify and track UCs who fail to appear for hearings.
Meanwhile, the Greensboro Influx Care Facility (ICF) is still not housing any migrant children, according to an Aug. 23 update by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which is responsible for care and custody of UCs.
“On March 15, 2024, HHS operationalized the ICF Greensboro Children’s Center, in Greensboro, North Carolina, which will provide shelter for boys and girls, 13 to 17 years old. As of June 23, 2024, the Center ramped down its operations to facility upkeep,” the Aug. 23 update reads. “No children have been in care at the Center since it became operational in March. It will continue to have no children in care but must be ready to resume operations and accept children eight weeks after being notified by ORR.”
This is nearly the same message ORR has posted for the Greensboro ICF since its March 15 announcement.
According to ORR data, there are supposed to be 3,610 UCs in North Carolina as of ORR’s Aug. 23 update. That’s an increase of 1,168 migrant children allegedly in North Carolina since mid-May. The same ORR data shows a total of 25,369 migrant children have been released to sponsors in North Carolina from fiscal year 2015 through March of fiscal year 2024.
The Greensboro ICF is the former American Hebrew Academy Campus, which has the capacity to house up to 800 if need be. The Biden-Harris administration’s Department of Health and Human Services entered into a five-year contract for nearly $50 million back on June 9, 2022. The contract expires in 2027 with an option to renew.
North State Journal attempted to find out when children would arrive by visiting the site in December 2023 but were turned away by security forces patrolling the site.
Loan documentation associated with the American Hebrew Academy (AHA) has tracked back to companies and individuals with ties to China and its government.
Most recently, North State Journal uncovered that portions of the loan had changed hands, going to two offshore companies in the British Virgin Islands; Long Faith Limited and Long Wit Limited.
Information on both companies is scarce, however, the loan documents — which cover $15 million of AHA’s original $26 million loan, were witnessed by an official in the U.S. Embassy in the People’s Republic of China on Jan. 12, 2023.
