Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin accused the Biden administration of turning a «blind eye» to widespread reports of sexual abuse targeting migrants during a Thursday press conference. 

«We’re going to enforce our nation’s laws, and we’re going to right the wrongs that the Biden administration turned a blind eye to,» Mullin said. «It’s horrific to what’s happening right in our own country because of four years of a blind eye that allowed unvetted sponsors to come pick up 450,000 kids on our borders … their own reports [were] reporting that over a third of the females, regardless of age, was sexually assaulted before they made it to their border.»

In May 2025, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, obtained Department of Health and Human Services data showing that 65,605 reports regarding migrant children were ignored or dismissed under President Joe Biden, including 7,346 reports of human trafficking. Within 100 days of assuming power, the Trump administration had opened dozens of legal investigations from the previously inactive reports.

NOEM SAYS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS LOCATED 127K MISSING MIGRANT CHILDREN LOST UNDER BIDEN

During the press conference, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced that three individuals, all purportedly illegal immigrants from Guatemala, had been indicted in the Northern District of Ohio for allegedly conspiring to smuggle more than a dozen children into the United States by «exploiting the loopholes created by the last administration.»

«This is one example, one indictment, but it is not unique. There are over 15,500 super-sponsor cases that we have identified, along with DHS. And again, these sponsor cases are when somebody sponsors more than three children, unrelated,» Blanche said. 

Mullin took an emotional tone later in the press conference.

«What’s inhumane about taking care of our kids?» he asked. «As a father of six with three young girls, I’ll do whatever I have to do, I will. I will move heaven and hell to go find these kids.»

«We’re going to bring you to justice. We’re going to charge you, and we’re going to work side by side with Todd Blanch and DOJ to make sure you pay for your crimes,» Mullin added.

HUNDREDS OF JAILED ILLEGAL ALIENS RELEASED BACK ONTO BLUE-STATE STREETS DESPITE ICE DETAINERS, RECORDS SHOW

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, President Donald Trump’s pick for Homeland Security secretary, testifies during a Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 18, 2026. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo)

A 2021 HHS Office of Inspector General report found that large numbers of child migrant sponsors were not properly vetted before minors were released to them, including 19% of sponsors who authorities never received FBI fingerprint or state child abuse and neglect registry checks.  

ICE SWEEPS UP CHILD PREDATORS, RAPISTS ACROSS US AS MULLIN TAKES HELM OF DHS

President Joe Biden carries a milkshake while visiting Nantucket for the Thanksgiving holiday in 2023. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

While internal government probes uncovered problems in the Biden administration’s processing of migrant children, the administration did take some action in response to abuse concerns and sponsor-vetting failures.

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In July 2024, for instance, the Biden administration sued Southwest Key, a company that operated a processing facility for unaccompanied migrant children, alleging that employees sexually abused and harassed the minors in their care. The administration also accepted recommendations for reform following the 2021 HHS OIG report.  

The DOJ and Biden’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

DHS directed Fox News Digital to Mullin’s comments during the press conference when approached for additional comment. 

«We found 146,000 kids so far. Some of these kids claimed that they were raped over 600 times. I don’t care who you are. If you can’t stand for law enforcement to go find these kids, who are you?» Mullins said during the press conference. 

La aparición de casos de hepatitis A y E en aguas residuales del Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires (AMBA) despertó la preocupación de la Dirección de Epidemiología del Ministerio de Salud de Argentina, que ubicó a estos virus entre los “eventos priorizados y emergentes”.

El aumento de diagnósticos, en particular entre adultos jóvenes no vacunados, y la detección constante del virus de hepatitis E en plantas depuradoras, marcan un cambio en la dinámica epidemiológica que desafía las políticas de prevención vigentes.

La información publicada por el Boletín Epidemiológico Nacional (BEN) en junio de 2026 refleja que la hepatitis A, históricamente bajo control gracias a la vacunación, experimentó una aceleración significativa en los contagios.

En solo cinco años, los diagnósticos pasaron de 2 a 53, y en el primer cuatrimestre de 2026 ya se notificaron 34 casos. Este incremento llevó a que la vigilancia sanitaria supere la “zona de seguridad”, con registros sostenidos por encima de los valores esperados a partir de la semana epidemiológica 5. El crecimiento se concentró en mayores de 20 años, un grupo que no recibió la vacuna obligatoria instaurada desde 2005.

La autoridad sanitaria nacional atribuye el fenómeno a la combinación de factores sociales y ambientales. Según el BEN, los casos se distribuyeron principalmente en Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Provincia de Buenos Aires y Salta. En esta última, la cifra anual de 2025, que fue de 10 personas, ya casi iguala el registro de 2026, con 7 positivos en menos de medio año.

El informe destaca que “durante el primer trimestre de 2026, la cantidad de casos confirmados ha superado la zona de seguridad, ubicándose sostenidamente por encima de los valores esperados a partir de la Semana Epidemiológica 5”. La tendencia pone la mira sobre los adultos jóvenes, sobre todo varones de 30 a 39 años, que no integraron la campaña de vacunación neonatal obligatoria y hoy constituyen el segmento más afectado.

El seguimiento de aguas residuales, resultado de un trabajo conjunto entre el Instituto ANLIS “Dr. Carlos G. Malbrán” y la empresa AySA, permitió identificar la presencia de hepatitis A y E en diversas plantas depuradoras. El análisis, iniciado en 2021, abarcó puntos estratégicos del conurbano bonaerense y la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, ofreciendo un panorama ampliado sobre la circulación de estos virus.

La Dirección de Epidemiología resalta que “la detección viral en aguas residuales permite abarcar a poblaciones numerosas mediante un único análisis, incorpora a individuos asintomáticos o presintomáticos, y brinda señales tempranas sobre la evolución de epidemias”. Este método complementa el sistema de vigilancia tradicional y refuerza la necesidad de políticas preventivas a escala municipal, provincial y nacional.

El contagio de la hepatitis A ocurre principalmente por vía fecal-oral, lo que sitúa el foco en la seguridad del agua y los alimentos, además de la higiene en contactos sexuales. La crisis económica actual agrava las condiciones de vida y la falta de acceso a servicios básicos, facilitando la transmisión. Los brotes recientes se detectaron sobre todo en varones adultos jóvenes, sector excluido históricamente de la inmunización universal.

El BEN ofrece un panorama novedoso sobre la hepatitis E, un virus poco frecuente en Argentina pero con circulación confirmada en aguas residuales del AMBA. Aunque los reportes clínicos siguen siendo bajos —menos de cinco casos confirmados en 2026—, el análisis de residuos cloacales arrojó resultados llamativos. El virus de la hepatitis E se detectó en todas las plantas estudiadas, con porcentajes de positividad que oscilaron entre el 49% y el 76%. Para la hepatitis A, la presencia fue más irregular, con picos que llegaron al 22% en algunas instalaciones.

La hepatitis E, aunque de “baja magnitud” según el BEN, puede circular de modo asintomático y tiene la particularidad de transmitirse de forma zoonótica, en el caso del genotipo 3. Un estudio encabezado por Flischman en 2020 señaló que la seroprevalencia en donantes de sangre alcanzó el 11,3%. “Uno de los problemas con quienes no manifiestan síntomas es que son buenos contagiadores para terceros que podrían tenerlos”, detalló el investigador.

La vigilancia de aguas residuales evidencia la persistencia del virus en la comunidad, aun cuando no se reportan brotes ni cuadros agudos. La presencia sostenida de hepatitis E en las plantas depuradoras representa un llamado de atención para epidemiólogos y autoridades sanitarias, que ven en este fenómeno una posible antesala de nuevos desafíos en salud pública.

Los datos del Boletín Epidemiológico Nacional revelan que la hepatitis A duplicó su incidencia respecto de la mediana 2022-2025, con 48 casos acumulados en 2026 frente a una mediana de 19 en el periodo anterior. La hepatitis B mostró un ascenso de 214 a 266 casos y la hepatitis C se mantuvo estable, aunque con una leve tendencia a la baja en las últimas semanas.

En hepatitis E, la incidencia fue muy baja, apenas 7 casos confirmados frente a una mediana previa de 2. La vigilancia de transmisión vertical de hepatitis B y los casos en embarazadas se ubicaron en niveles mínimos, sin incrementos significativos.

La cobertura de vacunación para hepatitis A (dosis única al año de vida) se ubicó en el 82% a nivel nacional en 2024, aún por debajo del ideal cercano al 90%. El Ministerio de Salud recomienda la inmunización de quienes no la recibieron oportunamente, en especial personas de grupos de riesgo como varones que mantienen relaciones sexuales con otros varones, mujeres trans, trabajadores sexuales, personas con desórdenes de la coagulación, enfermedad hepática crónica, personal de laboratorio, gastronómicos, y quienes viajan a zonas de alta o mediana endemia.

En el caso de la hepatitis B, la inmunización se compone de varias dosis: la primera dentro de las primeras 12 horas de vida, seguida de tres refuerzos. Solo el 84% de los recién nacidos recibió la dosis inicial en 2024, y menos del 69% completó el esquema con el refuerzo al año y medio. Los nacidos antes de 2000 podrían no haber accedido a la vacuna, aunque desde 2014 está disponible de forma gratuita para todos los grupos etarios.

La hepatitis C, que carece de vacuna, mantiene un nivel de casos dentro de lo esperado, con 494 confirmaciones en 2026 según el BEN, y una mediana previa de 424. La transmisión ocurre por vía sexual y sanguínea, y el seguimiento epidemiológico no detectó brotes ni eventos agudos de relevancia.

La vigilancia epidemiológica se mantiene activa, con capacidad para emitir alertas ante aumentos bruscos o variaciones anómalas en la dinámica de los virus. No se emitieron advertencias internacionales ni jurisdiccionales específicas para hepatitis en el periodo analizado. Tampoco se registraron recomendaciones extraordinarias para la población o los equipos de salud, más allá del refuerzo en la importancia de la vacunación y el monitoreo de aguas residuales.

La situación de las hepatitis virales en Argentina, especialmente en el AMBA, pone de relieve la eficacia y los límites de las estrategias de salud pública.

El hallazgo de los virus en aguas residuales, la tendencia ascendente de casos en adultos jóvenes y la baja pero sostenida circulación de la hepatitis E delinean un escenario en el que la vigilancia, la inmunización y la investigación epidemiológica se posicionan como herramientas centrales para anticipar y responder a los desafíos de un entorno sanitario en constante cambio.

EXCLUSIVE: A top Trump agency is cutting off funding to the Los Angeles agency responsible for coordinating billions in homelessness spending after accusing it of «obvious fraud,» «wanton mismanagement» and repeated failures to safeguard taxpayer dollars, Fox News Digital has learned.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which is a member of the White House fraud task force led by Vice President JD Vance, is immediately suspending the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s (LAHSA) federal funding while HUD’s inspector general investigates potential offenses by the agency and its leadership, according to a letter sent to LAHSA’s board chair Wendy Greuel and its CEO Gita O’Neill, which was obtained and reviewed by Fox News Digital. 

The letter detailed conflicts of interest, financial mismanagement, fraud, lack of oversight, and more from the homelessness agency, which has faced efforts by the city and county to take it over.

The move puts one of the country’s biggest homelessness bureaucracies under direct federal scrutiny after years of criticism that billions have gone into homelessness programs in Los Angeles while the crisis remains entrenched on the streets. LAHSA receives funding at the city, county, state and federal level, with the group getting nearly $1 billion from just the federal government since 2021, according to HUD.

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«Suspending LAHSA’s participation in federal government programs is a necessary step in accomplishing that critical mission in Los Angeles,» HUD wrote in the letter. «LAHSA’s failures have been so severe and pervasive that Los Angeles County has withdrawn its funding for the agency, and the City of Los Angeles is considering doing so as well.»

LAHSA’s former top executive, Va Lecia Adams Kellum, resigned last year after she was found to have been a party to directing $2.1 million in federal funds under LAHSA’s control to her husband’s Santa Monica-based nonprofit employer.

HUD says a federal judge last year also concluded that LAHSA had committed «obvious fraud» after it allegedly kept requesting funding for an 88-bed shelter even though it knew the shelter was operating at roughly half-capacity.

EX-NONPROFIT BOSS ALLEGEDLY SWIPED $1.2M MEANT FOR HOMELESS PROGRAMS TO FUND LAVISH LIFESTYLE, DA SAYS

HUD noted in its letter that the judge considered placing LAHSA into receivership as well.

LAHSA’s inability to verify the existence of nearly 2,300 housing sites for which it was responsible is another recent issue that has plagued the homelessness provider, according to HUD, which said 70% of the contracts for those sites did not disclose any expenses over the prior year.

Homeless encampments line the boardwalk at Venice Beach in Los Angeles amid ongoing concerns about crime and quality of life issues. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority will conduct its annual point-in-time count to assess the number of unhoused people in the region. (Reuters)

Public audits of LAHSA, meanwhile, found a pattern of routinely paying service providers late and poor record keeping preventing it from monitoring contracts, including $5 million in cash advances sent to five different service providers, according to the Associated Press. In November 2024, the City Controller’s Office found that LAHSA failed to spend $513 million in public funds budgeted in fiscal year 2024, blaming a lack of staff and old technology, according to HUD.

«Under President Trump’s leadership, HUD will fund results, not corrupt failure or the homeless industrial complex,» HUD Secretary Scott Turner said in a statement to Fox News Digital. «Year after year, hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars were funneled to LAHSA with little accountability. Meanwhile, homelessness skyrocketed. Taxpayers will no longer bankroll an organization that puts its own self-interests ahead of the Americans it was created to serve.»

Other audits concluded that LAHSA’s poor record keeping made it unable to accurately identify or calculate how well its spending has been benefiting the homeless population in Los Angeles.

KAREN BASS GRILLED OVER BROKEN HOMELESSNESS PROMISE, BLAMES BUREAUCRACY FOR SLOWED PROGRESS

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson, who is the vice chair of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, praised the leadership on this issue from HUD Secretary Scott Turner, President Donald Trump and Vance, who serves as the chairman of the fraud task force that was established earlier this year. 

«Los Angeles didn’t care about helping the homeless, but the Trump Administration does,» Ferguson told Fox News Digital. «It is unconscionable that Los Angeles has wasted billions of taxpayer dollars that was supposed to be used on housing our nation’s most vulnerable. Instead of providing a roof and care for the homeless, Los Angeles has used these funds to line the pockets of left-wing NGOs. Such a disgrace ends today.»

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Los Angeles officials have pointed to recent homeless-count data as evidence that the crisis has begun to improve, with LAHSA reporting that countywide homelessness fell for a second straight year in 2025 and Bass saying it marked the first time in the city’s recent history that homelessness had declined two years in a row.

But the numbers still showed more than 72,000 people experiencing homelessness across Los Angeles County, and critics have continued to argue that modest declines do not erase years of runaway spending, encampments and repeated audit findings that the region’s homelessness system has failed to adequately track whether taxpayer dollars are producing results. 

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass advanced to a runoff in her bid to win reelection as Mayor of Los Angeles (Getty Images)

The federal action from HUD comes after Los Angeles city and county officials had already begun backing away from LAHSA, the Associated Press reported last year.

The city council moved to explore bypassing the agency and contracting directly with providers, while the county moved to redirect hundreds of millions of dollars in annual homelessness funding away from LAHSA and into a new county department, citing the need for stronger accountability after a series of audits.

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«HUD cannot ignore LAHSA’s wanton mismanagement of public funds. HUD’s mission is to reduce the plague of homelessness in America,» the agency’s letter to LAHSA leadership on Thursday stated. «Turning over billions of dollars from American taxpayers to an organization under investigation and suspected of gross misuse of federal funding and «obvious fraud» does nothing to reduce homelessness. Indeed, diverting dollars from worthy programs to LAHSA merely makes the homeless crisis worse.»

Fox News Digital reached out to LAHSA for comment.