June 29, 2018

Representative Dina Titus, of Nevada’s First Congressional District, released the following statement following the failure of the Department of Health and Human Services to respond to a letter she penned to Secretary Alex Azar last week requesting answers concerning any children taken from their parents at the border and shipped to the State of Nevada. 

“Last week, I sent a letter to Secretary Alex Azar of the Department of Health and Human Services requesting information regarding the presence of unaccompanied children in Nevada. I asked the Secretary to detail how many children are in the government’s care in Nevada and to specify how many of those children have been sent to our state since the implementation of President Trump’s “zero tolerance policy.” I also asked the Secretary to provide the location of facilities and shelters housing children in Nevada, the placement rate of these children with sponsors or into foster care, and the Administration’s plans to reunite separated children with their families in light of President Trump’s recent executive order,” Titus said. 

“It is concerning to me that the Department is either unable or unwilling to respond to my simple questions within the requested one-week time frame. It brings into question this Administration’s ability to be accountable and responsible for the more than 2,000 children they have taken from their parents. I will be contacting the Department with a request to speak to Secretary Azar directly to obtain answers to my questions.”

According to reports children separated from their parents at the border have been shipped to more than a dozen states and placed into detainment camps, shelters, and state foster care systems. Below is the text of the letter sent to Secretary Azar on June 21, 2018.

June 21, 2018

The Honorable Alex M. Azar II                                 

Secretary                                                                          

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services       

330 C Street SW                                                        

Washington, D.C. 20416                                            

Dear Secretary Azar,

I am writing to inquire about an issue of paramount concern to me and my constituents. I have received hundreds of messages in the last few weeks regarding the status of unaccompanied minors and children torn from their parents by the United States Government. Recent reports have documented that children are being shipped to facilities and entered into foster care systems in approximately 20 states. I ask for an immediate response to the following questions:

• Is the Office of Refugee Resettlement housing children at facilities in the State of Nevada?

• If so, where are these facilities, how many children are being housed, and what are the children’s countries of origin?

• Has the Office of Refugee Resettlement sent children to the State of Nevada since the implementation of the Administration’s “zero tolerance” policy?

• If so, where, how many, and what are their countries of origin?

• How many children have been placed with a sponsor or into foster care in Nevada in the last 12 months? Please provide a monthly breakdown of this data.

• Are any of these children unaccounted for?

• In light of the executive order signed yesterday by President Trump, how will the Administration go about reuniting any children held in Nevada with their families?

I request a response to this inquiry by Thursday, June 28, 2018. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Dina Titus

Member of Congress

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