Should HHS Report How Many Kids it's Separating?

What’s the story?

• Initially, the Department of Health and Human Services disclosed the number of children in government care after being separated from their families at the border with Mexico. Now, the agency has said it will no longer provide those figures due to “expanded parameters.”

Why is HHS withholding the information?

• The Trump administration has blamed a “temporary court ruling” ordering HHS to reunify families within 30 days for its inability to report the number of children separated from their families.

"As HHS continues to evaluate the impact of the District Court ruling, and given the constantly changing number of unaccompanied alien children in our care...we are providing the total number of unaccompanied alien children in the care of HHS-funded grantees," the department said in its statement. 

• “It is not clear what that means,” PBS wrote. The public broadcaster had reached out to HHS in an attempt to procure the numbers for a story it was working on.
• The full letter from HHS to PBS can be found here.

What do you think?

Should HHS be required to release the number of child immigrants in its custody? Does Congress need to get involved? Hit Take Action and tell your reps, then share your thoughts below.

—Josh Herman

(Photo Credit: @CBCLorenda via Twitter)