by WorldTribune Staff, May 30, 2025 Real World News

On April 30 Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated: “We have ended HHS’s role as the principal vector in this country for child trafficking.”

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. / Video Image

Major media savaged Kennedy, accusing him of making a “sensational claim” and “pushing conspiracy.”

On Thursday, Kennedy brought the receipts.

The HHS chief said the agency under his direction found the Biden-Harris regime failed to investigate more than 7,300 reports of human trafficking involving child migrants and ignored tens of thousands of other concerning leads.

“This is a systemic failure of the Biden administration. It is children’s lives put at risk,” HHS said in a statement.

Kennedy said HHS is poring over 65,605 backlogged reports from the last administration as part of an interagency investigation into cases of unaccompanied migrant children who may have been abused by sex predators or trafficked by gangs like MS-13.

Since launching the investigation in February, HHS has processed 18,868 cases — but still has 1,688 of possibly fraudulent sponsors receiving the kids, 7,346 human trafficking reports and another 46,311 other tips from grantees, staff and unaccompanied minors themselves to vet, Kennedy said.

The investigation thus far has led to 528 investigative leads, 36 prosecutions taken up by U.S. attorneys’ offices, 25 arrest warrants, 11 arrests, seven indictments and three convictions. And that is after just 28% of the backlog has been worked through under President Donald Trump.

Internal documents showed HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) during the Biden-Harris term ignored obvious safety risks and prioritized quickly releasing the youths — with then-HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra likening the ideal turnover rate to an “assembly line,” according to The New York Times.

Whistleblowers later came forward to Congress and alleged that many of the children appeared to have fallen into the hands of criminals and sex traffickers.

Iowan Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley’s office has been investigating ORR for more than a decade and also found instances in recent years of sponsors “likely trafficking, smuggling, and exploitation” of migrant children, which he flagged to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the FBI.

“My oversight exposed the Biden-Harris administration for placing unaccompanied migrant children with dangerous sponsors and actively obstructing law enforcement and Congress’ efforts to rescue vulnerable kids,” Grassley said in a statement.

“I applaud the Trump Administration for its swift action to protect unaccompanied migrant children by addressing the concerning reports the Biden-Harris administration shelved. I look forward to working with Secretary Kennedy to ensure justice is served.”

Revive the American Free Press!

  300 reports of child trafficking, 500 leads, 65, HHS: Biden Administration failed to investigate 7, WorldTribune.com