REVEALED: Biden administration is moving $860MILLION in COVID funds to cover the cost of housing children in migrant shelters after crossing the border
The Biden administration is moving $860 million in COVID funds to cover pandemic-related expenses of housing children who have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border.
Bloomberg News reported Tuesday that Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra notified members of Congress that the HHS-designated funds would be moved from the National Institutes of Health to the unaccompanied children program.
In Becerra's letter to lawmakers he said the money would ensure the safety of unaccompanied minors who have shown up at the border and the staff attending to them at shelters.
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra informed Congress Tuesday that HHS would be moving $860 million in COVID relief funds from National Institutes of Health to the unaccompanied children program
A child holds hands with workers at an emergency shelter for migrant children in Pomona, California last week. The cost of housing migrant children has gone up at least $1.7 billion due to the government having to take pandemic-related precautions
Children sit inside a dining tent at an emergency shelter for migrant children in Pomona, California. The government has had to spend more money housing migrant children because of having to follow social distancing protocols
A Biden administration official told Bloomberg that because HHS has had to take precautions during the COVID-19 pandemic the cost of housing migrant children has gone up by at least $1.7 billion.
In the letter to House and Senate Appropriations committees leaders, obtained by Bloomberg, Becerra notes the uptick in the program's cost.
He explained that more space was needed because children arriving in the U.S. have to quarantine.
Additionally, intake shelters have had to ensure proper social distancing of children and staff.
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