Representative Eli Crane (R-AZ) did not mince words in condemning the Biden Administration and Democrats' failure to protect unaccompanied alien children (UACs) in a recent House Homeland Security Committee hearing.
The hearing primarily focused on how non-governmental organizations (NGOs) contributed to the border crisis under President Biden. Still, Rep. Crane was quick to point out that Democrats spent the hearing criticizing President Donald Trump.
"You can see our colleagues are very upset that we are having this hearing today," Rep. Crane began. "They do not want to talk about this stuff. They do not want to talk about the 300,000 kids that we still do not know where they are. They are upset that President Trump got elected. They are upset that he is doing exactly what he said he was going to do, and we are backing him in Congress."
Does Texas have a constitutional right to defy Supreme Court on protecting its border?
The Arizona Congressman then asked what safeguards for unaccompanied alien children (UACs) existed under the Biden Administration to GUARD Against Trafficking founder Ali Hopper.
Hopper replied that there was a requirement for two post-placement welfare calls to the sponsor of a UAC, but no action would be taken if the calls were not answered. Additionally, a hotline was established to report concerns about UAC safety. Still, between August 2023 and January 2025, 65,000 of those calls were unanswered, including an instance where a UAC reported being molested nightly in his sponsor's home.
"So you're telling me that the Biden Administration, while they were letting all of these unaccompanied minors into the country, they were not keeping track of them?" Crane asked. "They issued these kids a hotline that they could call if they had trouble with the sponsor family that they were put with, and you are saying that 65,000 calls to this hotline designated to protect these kids went unanswered?"
Hopper confirmed, which the Arizona Congressman called "unbelievable," and asked if Hopper's claim that adopting a pet was more difficult than sponsoring a UAC, which she also affirmed.
"Think about it, guys, this is exactly why the American people are so upset," Crane concluded, addressing the Democrats present, "This is why they voted for the President, and this is why they voted for this agenda to not only remove people from this country to secure our borders, but to find these kids. I mean, this is completely atrocious in a day and age where we are starting to wake up to the realities of sex trafficking and what is going on with these kids. They let all of these kids in, and we still do not know where over 300,000 of these kids are."
