The Biden administration’s lax immigration policies have resulted in countless undocumented migrants crossing into the United States and either escaping detention or essentially being released without condition by authorities.
Such lack of oversight can be particularly problematic when children are involved, as a recent report determined. Thousands of unaccompanied minors were reportedly released into the U.S. under the current administration and a large number of them went on to become victims of human traffickers or find themselves illegally working in dangerous conditions.
According to The New York Times, White House domestic policy adviser Susan Rice was a vocal advocate for the release of unaccompanied children even after she was aware of reports that they were being exploited and many of the sponsors who took responsibility for them were not being properly vetted.
In 2021, as unaccompanied children were sleeping on detention center floors under foil blankets, Rice vented her frustration in a handwritten note.
“This is BS,” she wrote. “What is leading to ‘voluntary’ separation is our generosity to UCs!” pic.twitter.com/Svu5o3mjqp
— Hannah Dreier (@hannahdreier) April 24, 2023
In fact, several employees at the Department of Health and Human Services were reportedly fired or pressured to step down after raising such concerns.
White House adviser Vivian Graubard said she worked alongside Rice and attempted to enact stricter reviews of sponsors to no avail, describing the experience as “maddening.”
Just days after that report was published, President Joe Biden confirmed that Rice will be stepping down from her position in the White House next month.
Of course, Biden did not address the controversy in his statement and even applauded her ostensibly praiseworthy work on behalf of migrant children.
“After more than two years of her steady leadership of the Domestic Policy Council — it’s clear: there is no one more capable, and more determined to get important things done for the American people than Susan Rice,” he said on Monday.
The president went on to tout Rice’s supposed accomplishments, insisting that with her help, his administration “reversed the harmful immigration policies of the previous administration, reunified more than 670 children separated from their families, and rebuilt the broken system of care for unaccompanied children, putting their safety and well-being first and foremost.”
He concluded by describing Rice’s roles in the Obama and Biden administrations as historic since she is “the only person to serve as both national security adviser and domestic policy adviser.”
Rice’s final day in her current role is expected to be May 26.
