By Ted Hesson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday issued a subpoena that orders President Joe Biden's health secretary to provide records related to the handling of unaccompanied migrant children with suspected criminal ties.
House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan sent the subpoena to Xavier Becerra, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the committee said in a press release.
Jordan asked Becerra to provide information about the care and custody of unaccompanied migrant children encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border who have suspected gang ties or are sponsored by U.S. residents who have criminal convictions.
An HHS spokesperson said the department had been working on the request and that the subpoena was "entirely without basis."
"Unfortunately, these actions by the committee fail to solve the important and urgent issue of ensuring a safe and humane immigration system," the spokesperson said. "HHS will continue to operate in good faith."
Republicans blame the Biden administration for record numbers of migrants who are caught trying to cross the border illegally. They say the Democratic president should not have reversed restrictive policies of Republican former President Donald Trump.
Biden officials counter that migration is a hemispheric challenge and say they have sought to create a more orderly and humane system.
Biden is seeking a second term in the Nov. 5 presidential election and Trump is the leading candidate for his party's nomination.
Congress remains divided on immigration policy despite an ongoing effort in the Senate to strike a deal that would pair U.S. border security reforms with military aid for Ukraine's war against Russia.
The Republican-led Judiciary Committee has highlighted the case of an unaccompanied minor from El Salvador with suspected gang ties who was charged with the 2022 sexual assault and murder of a 20-year-old Maryland woman.
Still, there is no evidence of widespread criminality among unaccompanied children. A 2020 study found that immigrants in the country illegally were significantly less likely to commit felony crimes than native-born Americans and legal immigrants. Other studies have reached similar conclusions.
In the subpoena to Becerra, Jordan said the committee had requested information related to unaccompanied migrant children since June 2023 but that the response had been "woefully inadequate."
The subpoena demands that HHS disclose whether it refers unaccompanied children with suspected gang ties to the U.S. Department of Justice and calls for the department to reveal the number of "serious incident reports" filed at HHS-funded shelters in cases involving sexual assault, violence, drug use or gang activity.
The subpoena also requests the number of approved or denied U.S. sponsor applications by people with convictions for child abuse, child pornography, domestic abuse and murder.
Of the more than 6 million migrant arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border during Biden's presidency, 7% were of unaccompanied children.