House oversight panel to hold hearing on Trump administration’s care of migrant children

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), chair of the Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations panel, announced today that it will hold a hearing next week on the administration's treatment of thousands of migrant children in U.S. custody.

DeGette, whose panel has been leading the investigation into the Trump administration's family-separation policy, said the hearing will "take a hard look at the treatment and wellbeing of these children, and whether the administration is taking steps to dramatically improve care for the children in its custody."

"Earlier this year, our subcommittee held a hearing that exposed some of the worst failures of the Trump Administration's inhumane family separation policy," DeGette said. "We want to know exactly what steps this administration has taken since then to improve the care that's being provided to these children."

Among those who will be testifying at next week's hearing will be officials from U.S Customs and Border Protection, the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement – which is the agency charged with caring for all migrant children held in U.S. custody – and the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General – which recently issued a scathing new report detailing the trauma that many migrant children in U.S. custody have already suffered from.

The hearing will take place Thursday, September 19, at 10:00 a.m. EDT in room 2123 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

Additional information, including the full list of witnesses and a link to view the hearing live, will be distributed as soon as it becomes available.