
(PatriotWise.com) — An HHS whistleblower who reported concerns that some unaccompanied illegal alien minors were getting released to sponsors linked to the violent gang MS-13 claimed she faced retaliation from her superiors.
Tara Rodas, a 20-year veteran employee of HHS, was one of two HHS whistleblowers who spoke at a Senate roundtable discussion earlier this month about what she learned while working with the Office of Refugee Resettlement on the southern border.
Rodas and fellow HHS whistleblower Deborah White told a group of senators led by Republicans Chuck Grassley, Bill Cassidy, and Ron Johnson that HHS lost track of at least 85,000 unaccompanied alien minors once they were released into the custody of sponsors.
Rodas testified that the minors were being funneled through multiple federal agencies, NGOs, and contractors, none of whom were capable of ensuring that the children would not end up in the custody of human traffickers.
According to Rodas, about half a million unaccompanied minors were released into the custody of people who were, in many cases, complete strangers, and some of those children may have been trafficked into prostitution or forced labor.
Rodas appeared on the program “Just the News, No Noise” last week, where she discussed her testimony before the Senate and how HHS retaliated against her for speaking out.
According to Rodas, a DHS whistleblower had alerted her that some of the people acting as sponsors for unaccompanied minors were affiliated with the Salvadoran gang MS-13. After she brought this to the attention of her superiors, she was removed from her position less than three weeks later.
She criticized HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement for retaliating against her rather than ensuring that the unaccompanied minors in their care were protected.
Rodas told the hosts of “Just the News, No Noise” that HHS officials have known since 2021 that MS-13 gang members were acting as sponsors for unaccompanied minors, but rather than do something to protect the children in their care, “decided to silence me.”
Copyright 2024, PatriotWise.com