Don’t put kids at risk
The Biden administration clearly faces a major challenge on the southern border as thousands of young people from Central America seek refuge in the U.S. While there is no easy solution, here’s one strategy that won’t do: cutting corners on their safety.
It’s alarming to learn, then, that the government has waived the requirement that people caring for these children and teenagers undergo an FBI fingerprint background check. It sounds like an invitation to child predators and other abusers.
After the Trump administration’s callous, often cruel treatment of undocumented children and families, it is not surprising to see a surge in border crossings by people who likely believe they’ll be treated better under President Joe Biden than his xenophobic predecessor. The numbers bear this out: There was an almost immediate rise in January in encounters between U.S. border authorities and children and adults crossing the border illegally. The numbers soared in March to 172,331, compared with 34,460 a year
earlier. So far this year, border agents have encountered 48,587 unaccompanied minors, compared with 33,239 last year by this time. About 18,000 children and teens are currently in custody.
Where to put them all in a system that was already strained by Mr. Trump’s “zero-tolerance” policy is the question. The government’s detention facilities are unacceptable for housing children, and in any case a court order severely limits how long minors can be detained before being released to family or licensed care programs. As previous administrations did, the Biden administration is turning to private contractors to build and operate tent camps and other large facilities funded by U.S. Health and Human Services. The administration was planning in March alone to add 15,000 such beds.
That, however, requires more staffing, and to help them quickly ramp up their operations, the administration is waiving the requirement that workers for those companies undergo FBI fingerprint background checks. Instead, they can use commercial background checks, which rely on a person’s name. If an applicant provides a different identify than one they may have once been arrested under, their record likely would not be detected. The sites, moreover, don’t require state licensing, nor do they provide the same kinds of services as permanent HHS facilities.
HHS’ own inspector general has expressed concern about this, as have child welfare advocates. The Biden administration should heed their warnings.
If short staffing is indeed that serious a problem, at the very least, the waivers should only be temporary and the hirings conditional on passing an FBI fingerprint background check within a minimal period of time. It’s not a perfect solution, but it would be better than not doing the checks at all. And it could mean the difference between this situation being a shortterm logistical crisis and a child abuse scandal that was all too easy to see coming.