Letter to Xavier Becerra, Secretary of US Department of Health & Human Services - Documents for the Erie Migrant Intake Site

Letter

Dear Secretary Becerra,

I appreciate your Department's recent release of the contract between the Pennsylvania International Academy and the Department of Health and Human Services pertaining to Emergency Intake Site in Erie, Pennsylvania. While not answering all of my questions regarding this program and raising new ones, I am hopeful we can work together to bring new transparency about this Intake Site and the Department's migrant policies.

Below I have outlined a timeline of events in which my office has asked you and the Department for additional information regarding this Intake Site which is of utmost importance to my constituents.

I first learned of the plans for this facility on April 7, 2021. By April 13, 2021, 144 migrant children had been placed there.

On April 21, 2021, I sent you a letter requesting a copy of the Emergency Intake Site contract between HHS and the Pennsylvania International Academy.

On April 23, 2021, HHS abruptly cancelled a planned tour by my staff and I of the site, claiming that the children were being transferred out and "[HHS] expect almost all of the girls to be transferred today and tomorrow".

On April 24, 2021, my staff and I were finally able to secure a tour of the facility. Only 54 children remained at the Erie Intake Site.

On June 8, 2021, during a Ways and Means budget oversight hearing, I again requested copies of the contract and other relevant documentation. You provided a verbal commitment to get my office the answers we needed.

On July 1, 2021, one of your deputies sent a letter to my office which confirmed the existence of the Erie Intake Site but failed to provide a copy of the contract or address my other concerns.

On April 28, 2022, during a subsequent Ways and Means budget oversight hearing, I again requested a copy of the contract and other relevant documentation. Once more, you provided a verbal commitment to get my office the answers we needed.

On July 26, 2022, after more than a year of inaction by the Department of Heath and Human Services, I filed a Resolution of Inquiry to force the Department of Health and Human Service to turn over documentation related to the Erie Intake Site contract. The House Committee on the Judiciary announced a markup of the resolution on September 14, 2022, and your Department ultimately released the contract the night before the markup.

To answer my constituents' outstanding questions regarding this Intake site and the Department's migrant resettlement programs, I am requesting answers to the following questions:

1. What happened to the children after they were transferred out of the Erie Intake Site?
a. Specifically, where were the children housed between April 23, 2021, and May 30, 2021?
b. What happened to the children after that point?
2. What happened to the children who were still in the US when they turned 18? Were they released into the country?
3. Why was the Erie site chosen and does the Government still have an ongoing contract for the site?
4. What was the total amount of taxpayer dollars paid out on the contract for the Erie Intake Site? The contract suggests it was between $1,000,000.00 and $10,000,000.00. Please provide the exact amount paid.
5. Why didn't the government inspect the site before entering into a million-dollar contract and shipping children there?

Please provide answers in writing no later than October 16, 2022.

Too often, Congressional inquiries are ignored by Federal agencies. From your time serving in the House of Representatives on the Committee on Ways and Means, I know you understand the value of Congressional oversight actions. Understanding what occurred at the Erie Emergency Intake Site of critical importance to my constituents. I look forward to continuing to work with you on behalf of the people of PA-16 to bring accountability to what happened to these children, to address our Nation's ongoing immigration crisis, and to secure our borders.

Respectfully,
Mike Kelly
Member of Congress

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