Press Releases

Chairman Nadler Statement on HHS IG Report Finding Thousands More Migrant Children Separated from Families by Trump Administration

Washington, DC, January 17, 2019

Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) issued the following statement in response to the release of the Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) Inspector General's report that found that thousands more immigrant children were separated from their parents than previously reported, and that the question of whether they have been reunified with their parents is still unknown: 

"Today’s report by the HHS Inspector General shocks the conscience and confirms our worst fears, that thousands of additional children were separated at the border by this administration. Next month, the Judiciary Committee will be conducting oversight over the entirety of the Administration’s cruel and inhumane family separation policy.”

"In light of this report, the document requests I submitted to the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Health Human Services are more important than ever. This Administration will and must be held accountable for these actions."

On January 11th, Chairman Nadler sent letters to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Nielsen, Department of Justice (DOJ) Acting Attorney General Whitaker, and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Azar regarding the turning over of any information and preservation of records for the many unanswered questions about the development and execution of the “zero tolerance” policy, migrant detention, and related policies on the border.

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