QUESTION:
Did the Department of Health and Human Services reallocate $266 million from medical research and HIV/AID support services to fund undocumented minors?
ANSWER:
Yes, HHS confirmed this is true.
SOURCES:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson
HHS Administration for Children and Families spokesperson
Eric Hargan- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary
PROCESS:
Verify viewer Tony Jordan from Burtonsville, Maryland asked the Verify team to fact-check an article circulating online.
The Yahoo News article claimed that the Department of Health and Human Services was redirecting money from cancer research and an HIV/AIDs program to unaccompanied minors detained at the border.
Verify researchers went straight to the source for answers.
According to a Health and Human Services spokesperson, on September 5th Secretary Alex Azar notified Congress their plan to reallocate $266 million to their Unaccompanied minor program.
Under the Homeland Security Act of 2002, Congress transferred the care and custody to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, an office within Health and Human Services
According to an HHS spokesperson, $80 million of the $226 million came from other refugee programs with ORR,because " Fewer refugees have entered the U.S. than projected at the time of the FY 2018 appropriation bill’s enactment, these resources would not have been used for refugee services in FY 2018."
The remaining $186 million was reallocated from across HHS, including $15.8 million from Health Resources and Services Administration which handles health care support, health centers, AIDS/HIV support and research.
The transfer represents 1/4 of a percent of the agency's $1.1 trillion total budget.
"HHS is using the Secretary’s transfer and reprogramming authorities to provide additional funds for the care of unaccompanied alien children, the agency said. "... the funding will be used for increases in caseloads and unexpected surges. Unfortunately, the need for additional funds has grown since FY 2011, with the continual increase of unaccompanied alien children at the border."
The agency calls the transfer a "temporary solution to the permanent consequence of a broken immigration system," and says the Zero Tolerance Police, which ended on June 20, is "not driving this need."
"HHS is preparing for the possibility of heightened capacity to continue so it can meet its responsibility, by law, to provide shelter for those referred to our care by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS)," Eric Hargan, Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary said.
So we can Verify, yes, HHS is redirecting money from within the agency to fund custody and care of unaccompanied minors.
