President Joe Biden nominated former U.S.\nCongressman and California\u2019s attorney general Xavier Becerra to the position of\nSecretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). If confirmed,\nBecerra will take lead of the department that oversees the housing and\nadministration of unaccompanied alien children (UAC). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prior to his nomination for the HHS secretary role, some groups speculated that Biden would tap Becerra to lead<\/a> the Justice Department or the Department of Homeland Security, both of which have wide jurisdiction over the federal immigration system. Becerra\u2019s role will undoubtedly grow in importance as tens of thousands of asylum-seekers come to the southern border, encouraged<\/a> by Biden\u2019s promise to amnesty all illegal aliens, bringing children with them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike adults, law enforcement cannot simply release unaccompanied children into the interior of the country with a notice to appear in immigration court. That is where HHS comes in. In addition to overseeing HIPAA (the federal law which created rules to protect patient privacy), health insurance, social services, public health, and a variety of other programs, HHS is responsible for housing unaccompanied alien children<\/a>. Unlike Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), HHS is not a law-enforcement agency and houses alien children in shelters only until they locate suitable sponsors or family members in the United States willing to take custody of them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As HHS Secretary, Becerra will oversee this aspect of the immigration policy of the United States. There is less room for Becerra to eviscerate law enforcement or roll back security programs as the secretary of HHS, unlike the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General. But Becerra does have the ability to affect immigration policy by altering department guidance on \u201cChildren Entering the United States Unaccompanied<\/a>\u201d or by other means, such as ending the practice of contracting out detention space, which HHS did with the Homestead facility<\/a> in Florida. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Becerra is the child of Mexican immigrants<\/a> to the United States, and frequently cites his parents in matters of immigration policy. He has long supported relaxing immigration laws to the United States. As a U.S. representative, Becerra fought to include coverage for illegal aliens in the Affordable Care Act<\/a>, colloquially known as Obamacare. As California\u2019s attorney general, Becerra defended California laws that gave health benefits and coverage to illegal aliens. In FAIR\u2019s 2014 Congressional Voting Report<\/a>, then-Rep. Becerra voted against FAIR\u2019s position in every single instance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n