SAN DIEGO — The federal Health and Human Services Department often failed to perform required background checks on workers at emergency holding centers for migrant children who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border alone during a surge in 2021, the agency’s internal watchdog has found.
The inspector general’s report released Thursday raises questions about how better prepared authorities will be for the next emergency, especially with coronavirus pandemic-related asylum restrictions scheduled to end this coming week and expected to result in more arrivals.
The report, based on a sampling, found that 200 workers did not have background checks for child abuse or neglect and only 29 did, though 20 of those were not done in a “timely manner.”
Investigators found 174 did not have FBI fingerprint background checks while 55 did, but 25 of those were not done in a “timely manner.” Checks against the Justice Department’s sex offender registry, which were required less often, were not done on 42 workers and were performed on 36, though 11 were not in a “timely manner.”
Criminal background checks based on publicly available records were done more often, but still on far less than half of new hires.
Also Thursday, the federal Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog released a results of interviews and survey responses from more than 9,300 employees that found border flows — both illegal crossings and legal trade and travel — are “unsustainable” without more staffing.
The department’s efforts to address the growing workload with temporary transfers and overtime were determined to be insufficient.
The workload, particularly since 2019, has “negatively impacted the health and morale of law enforcement personnel, who feel overworked and unable to perform their primary law enforcement duties,” the Homeland Security inspector general wrote.
The Health and Human Services review of unaccompanied children focused on 10 of 14 contracted “emergency intake sites,” including convention centers in San Diego and Long Beach, California, a county fairgrounds near Los Angeles and two military bases in Texas. It included a department-run overflow site in Carrizo Springs, Texas, which also often failed to perform required checks.
HHS expanded holding capacity to 13,500 beds by the spring of 2021 but was unprepared for increased flows that occurred shortly after President Joe Biden took office, forcing authorities to ask the military and local governments for help opening emergency shelters for up to six months.
The department’s Office of Refugee Resettlement “must address the shortcomings we identified to ensure that similar issues do not recur during future influxes.” the report concluded. “Effective oversight of facility operations and clearly communicating background check requirements are critical to ensuring the safety of children.”
HHS agreed with the watchdog’s seven recommendations. January Contreras, assistant secretary for children and families, said the report covered “one of the most challenging periods” in its history of caring for migrant children and noted that the surge occurred amid the pandemic.
