Whistleblowers reporting mistreatment of migrant children feared retaliation, says U.S. report

U.S. government workers feared retaliation after they raised concerns about the treatment of unaccompanied migrant children in Texas last year, according to a watchdog report released by the HHS Inspector General on Tuesday.

The whistleblowers specifically cited how the youngsters were treated at the base, and the removal of specific safety checks in the program to release children to sponsors.

Two employees said they experienced retaliation after they shared details about the treatment and conditions to which migrant children traveling by themselves where subjected to on the Texas military base Fort Bliss, although one HHS official who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity disputed that claim. 

The official added that the situation at Fort Bliss has changed since then.

Along with the unprecedented number of migrants crossing the border, the number of unaccompanied children attempting to enter the U.S. also increased. To alleviate overcrowding at border stations, HHS opened several emergency shelters to house the children until they can be placed with sponsors.

Fort Bliss has been used as one of the emergency housing for migrants and unaccompanied children since March 2021, according to a report by the U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) inspector general’s office.

One of the whistleblowers cited in the report is a staff member working with the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which oversees the care and custody of minors crossing the border without their families.

The staffer, who was not named, raised concerns about the treatment of the children at the base and the removal of certain safety checks before releasing the children to sponsors.

According to the staffer, the acts of retaliation taken against him included demotion and removal from assignments.

The inspector general’s office said that the retaliation taken against the whistleblowers may have caused a broader “whistleblower chilling… "effectively scaring staff into withholding any complaints or reports of wrongdoing."