U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) expressed continued frustration during a press conference Monday over the lack of answers he has been able to receive about an estimated 70 children separated from their families and being held at a facility in Homestead.
Nelson called out Department of Health and Human Services Sec. Alex Azar, saying he was giving the HHS Secretary “advanced notice” of questions he expects answers too when Azar appears Tuesday before the Senate Finance Committee.
“Why were members of congress turned away from the detention facility in Homestead on Tuesday, but suddenly on Friday, decided to admit my colleague (Sen. Marco Rubio, R-FL) in the Senate and then on Saturday admitted some of us?” said Nelson. “Why did they not answer the questions of why they would not let me talk to the children? Why would they not let me talk to the 70 children that they said that they had that day that had been separated from their parents?”
Nelson said that when he visited the facility Saturday, along with U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL) and several Democratic state lawmakers, they were unable to get details about efforts to reunify those children with their families.
“We have tried numerous times this morning with no response from HHS,” said Nelson.
“I’ll be calling on the Secretary to explain to the American people, under oath, where these children are right now and where their parents are...Why is HHS continuing to deny us access to the children that have been separated?”
The program director for the Homestead facility, Leslie Wood told reporters who were allowed to tour the facility on Friday that there are 1,179 unaccompanied minors aged 13 to 17 being housed at the center. The facility’s official name is the Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Children. Nelson called that characterization that the facility is a shelter rather than a detention center a “political fiction.”
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Nelson also criticized President Donald Trump when asked by a reporter why it has been so difficult for members of Congress to access facilities housing migrants. “Either they are petrified that the wrath of the president is going to come down on their head if they do anything they think displeases the president or there is something that they’re trying to hide,” said Nelson. “Sooner or later this is going to come out because folks like you are going to keep asking the questions and so are people like me.”
Tuesday’s Senate Finance Committee hearing, which will include testimony from HHS Sec. Alex Azar is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m.
