By Cong. Kevin Brady
Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON, D.C. – I recently traveled to the southern border, where I saw firsthand the devastating reality of the Biden Border Crisis. I saw how cruel this humanitarian crisis is on migrant children and the families who put their fate in the hands of criminal drug cartels.
But there is another victim of the border crisis that President Biden is blind to – America’s foster children.
It is unacceptable that our foster care children are suffering because of President Biden’s inability to respond to this crisis and unwillingness to take this situation seriously.
Click here to watch my remarks
Remarks as prepared for delivery:
“We need to close the back door of illegal immigration so we can keep open the front door of legal immigration.
“Texas is particularly proud of our immigrant neighbors and co-workers – they are our strength.
“When you tour the Texas border you see up close how cruel this humanitarian crisis is on migrant children and the families who put their fate in the hands of criminal drug cartels.
“It’s what you don’t see that should trouble America: the continued surge in sex trafficking, drugs, criminal gangs & foreign terrorist crossing into our homeland. These are real threats to families, neighborhoods and communities in Texas and across America.
“There’s another victim in all this President Biden is blind to: America’s foster children.
“HHS is responsible for finding long-term care for unaccompanied minors, and many of them will be placed in the foster care system. In fact, this week, we saw the number of unaccompanied minors in HHS custody reach a record high of 20,000 children – and that number is only growing.
“But President Biden has no plan in place to ensure that the extreme surge of migrant children does not displace the 400,000 American children currently in the foster care system.
“Unfortunately, in recent weeks we’ve already seen the trend of American children being forced out of their foster homes to accommodate unaccompanied migrant children.
“Last month, a foster family in Washington State was forced to vacate their home so the government could house unaccompanied migrant children, leaving their four foster children without a home or family.
“That’s why Republicans leaders on the Ways & Means committee are asking HHS to investigate the full impact that a surge in unaccompanied minors is having on our foster care system.
“Our foster care system is the only hope for many children to find a loving family. Adding thousands more children to this already overburdened system is wrong.
"The bottom line is President Biden’s policies are leaving all children worse off. And it is unacceptable that our foster care children are suffering because of President Biden’s inability to respond to this crisis and unwillingness to take this situation seriously."
