A Texas advocate is calling on the Trump administration-elect and Congress to review federal policies that use taxpayer dollars to fund and facilitate abortions for unaccompanied alien children (UACs) brought into the United States illegally

The US Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement, which is responsible for the oversight and care of UACs, has come under extensive scrutiny for a range of issues, The Center Square has reported. These include failing to vet sponsors, failing to track hundreds of thousands of missing children, allowing UACs to be trafficked, prostituted and sent to forced labor, audits by the Office of Inspector General and congressional and state investigations have found.

In addition, young girls and teenagers are often raped by their traffickers along the journey to the United States or by others in the UAC program while housed in ORR facilities, including in Texas, according to multiple reports, The Center Square reported. Texas Governor Greg Abbott urged the president to close several facilities in Texas, argues his administration led the abuse of children.

With the largest number of UACs housed in HHS-contracted facilities in Texas, Alliance for a Safe Texas President Sheena Rodriguez has called for state and federal reforms. She has been too sounds the alarm on the connection between human trafficking and abortion, which several reports point to. One includes a UC Berkeley School of Public Health report citing data that “60-80% of unaccompanied girls are sexually assaulted during their trip to the United States.”

Abortion advocates argue that pregnant UACs should have access to taxpayer-funded abortions and abortions.

“Abortion is essential health care and access to it should not depend on your immigration status, whether you are incarcerated or what state you are in,” the American Civil Liberties Union argues. ACLU too advocate for eliminating all Border Patrol checkpoints, arguing that they “trap people trying to escape Texas’ abortion ban.”

Under the Trump administration, a federal rule was implemented requiring ORR to prohibit UACs from being transported to perform abortions. In 2017, the ACLU sued and won in court. In 2020, ORR issued a new policy stating that federal personnel could not block or interfere with UAC access to abortion.

After the repeal of Roe v. Wade and state abortion bans, the Biden administration be expanded 2020 policy to prioritize placing pregnant UACs in non-abortion states and if placed in pro-abortion states, transfer them to facilities in pro-abortion states. Several US senators opposed the policy and requested information on HHS ORR UAC facilitated abortions, saying it violated federal law.

Abortion advocates argue federally funded UAC abortions are legal because they fall under the exemptions listed under the Hyde Amendment. The amendment, first enacted in 1976, restricts Congress from appropriating federal funds to pay for abortions in annual appropriations bills for the Departments of Labor, HHS, Education and their agencies. Exceptions include saving the mother’s life, rape and incest, and if carrying the baby to term would cause long-term negative health consequences for the mother, the Congressional Research Service explains.

Rodriguez, a former pregnancy center counselor, supports Trump’s past abortion policies, but says at least Congress needs to implement a series of transparency requirements.

“Children are abused and sexually assaulted and they need resources and support to help them deal with the trauma they’ve endured,” she told The Center Square. “This does not include advocating for them to have an abortion, especially without parental consent, which is often done. These minors must understand all of their options, including adoption and help to keep their child. They must also be told the long-term side effects and potentially fatal consequences of taking abortion medication or undergoing procedures that may result in sterilization. Sponsors must also be informed of the procedures and trauma the minors have undergone.”

The Alliance for a Safe Texas is calling on the incoming Trump administration and Congress to require HHS ORR to report how many pregnant UACs are in its care, how many had abortions under its care, how many were transported for abortions, how many received abortions pills, how many of their parents were notified, and other information related to the extent to which UACs were given informed consent.

Rodriguez also suggests that the transparency requirements also include requiring the HHS ORR to disclose how many UACs received abortion pills that were brought to states that passed abortion restrictions and how many UACs were transported to pro-abortion states from states like Texas. The Texas abortion ban not only prohibits most abortions, but also allows civil and criminal lawsuits against abortion providers and those who transport women and girls to obtain them. HHS ORR should also be required to disclose how many of its shelters and contracted facilities worked with Planned Parenthood, NGOs and abortion groups to provide abortion-related services and facilitate transportation to receive them, she said.

The requirements should also include the HHS ORR disclosing how many UACs received counseling and what type and how much expanded abortion access to UACs is costing taxpayers.

“Taxpayers have a right to know how much taxpayer money is being used to perform an abortion on a young female minor,” said Rodriguez.