US official says feds lost contact with 1,500 immigrant children in the last three months of 2017

An official with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed the federal agency tasked with placing thousands of undocumented children in sponsor homes lost track of 1,500 in the last three months of 2017.

Steven Wagner made the revelation during an address to the Senate subcommittee last month according to a Fox News report. The HHS's Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is responsible for placing the children with sponsors and issuing background checks prior to placing the children being placed with their sponsors to ensure they're safe from human traffickers and smugglers disclosed Wagner.

He later said the report was "misleading" and that the sponsors simply could not be reached at the time the agency called.

Sponsors are often illegal immigrants themselves.

More than 40,000 immigrant children were transferred to ORR in 2017 but the agency cannot account for 1,475 of the 7,635 they contacted. Once the children are transferred to ORR, Wagner says HHS is not legally responsible for them.

&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fus%2F2018%2F05%2F29%2Fhhs-official-calls-report-that-agency-lost-1500-unaccompanied-immigrant-children-misleading.html&tfw_creator=foxnews&tfw_site=foxnews

On June 7, House Republicans will return from recess and assess whether or not new immigration policies are needed. This is a controversial topic due to the Department of Homeland Security's immigration policy that separates families at the border.

Tune in to the clip above to hear Pat's thoughts. 

To see more from Pat, visit his channel on TheBlaze and listen live to “Pat Gray Unleashed” with Pat Gray weekdays 12 p.m. – 3 p.m. ET, only on TheBlaze Radio Network. Want more of Pat? Check him out on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.