Revealed: Where 37,000 illegal immigrant children have been released to 'guardians' across America - and where the feds are hiding tens of thousands more

  • 37,477 illegal immigrant children were handed over to relatives or other 'guardians' this year in 50 states, DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands
  • US government says 66,127 were apprehended so far, leaving tens of thousands languishing in 116 temporary shelters across 16 states 
  • The Obama administration is stonewalling Freedom Of Information Act requests for information about contracts it issues to run the facilities
  • One Texas charity has received more than $280 million this year in federal funds to house the children, mostly from Central American countries

By David Martosko, Us Political Editor for MailOnline

Published: 12:07 EST, 4 September 2014 | Updated: 19:05 EST, 4 September 2014

The federal government has sent more than 37,000 illegal immigrant children to adults in every part of the U.S. who claimed to be their guardians during the first seven months of 2014, data from the Department of Health and Human Services show.

But tens of thousands more are languishing in 116 shelters operated with taxpayer dollars in at least 16 states.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection says more than 66,000 unaccompanied children were apprehended after crossing the border illegally between October 1, 2013 and the end of this August – an 88 per cent increase over the last fiscal year with one month left to go.

HHS released more than 56 per cent of the children to family members in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands between January and July, according to information the agency sent MailOnline and shown in a map below.

In addition to the 116 shelters housing the rest, an estimated 28,000 kids, the feds have also proposed to open another 46 shelters in 27 states to help cope with the influx.

The crisis has stemmed from an unprecedented flood of underage would-be Americans, often fleeing violence in Central America and drawn by the lure of a White House eager to mainstream them.

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Not surprisingly, Texans absorbed the largest share of illegal immigrant children this year -- but all 50 states are represented and even Virginia has found itself with more than 2,800 unexpected new school pupils

Not surprisingly, Texans absorbed the largest share of illegal immigrant children this year -- but all 50 states are represented and even Virginia has found itself with more than 2,800 unexpected new school pupils

Deluge: Tens of thousands of unaccompanied children this year have snuck across the border into the US, where they are caught, processed in holding facilities (pictured), and then either released to relatives or kept in longer-term shelters

Deluge: Tens of thousands of unaccompanied children this year have snuck across the border into the US, where they are caught, processed in holding facilities (pictured), and then either released to relatives or kept in longer-term shelters

Tempers: A pro-immigration protester shouted at President Obama (lower left) on Monday during a labor union rally in Wisconsin

Tempers: A pro-immigration protester shouted at President Obama (lower left) on Monday during a labor union rally in Wisconsin

Adult relatives can claim the children from the temporary shelters run by private agencies but funded through taxpayer dollars. HHS doesn't take any action to determine whether those claiming the minors are themselves in the United States legally.

The Los Angeles Times reported in August that the Department of Homeland Security had deported just 294 Central Americans from among the tens of thousands stretching American hospitality to its breaking point.

Meanwhile HHS, through its 'unaccompanied alien children' program, sent 50 or more children and teens to live with 'guardians' in at least 128 U.S. counties. 

Adding to the complicated picture, the Federation for American Immigration Reform reported this week that HHS data indicate taxpayers will cover $761 million in expenses related to educating children placed in those counties.

Few are fluent in English, and in some cases the flood of new students has overwhelmed already-crowded classrooms.

And while the Obama administration has been quick to boast how many of the 37,477 former detainees it has reunited with self-described family members, it has been silent on how many children are still housed in what has become a collection of third-world orphanages.

The Washington Times reported Thursday that a recent Homeland Security contract included a list of '116 facilities that have been used to house children this year.'

The shelters have been featured in handfuls of local news stories. Numbers USA, a strident 'immigration-reduction' group, provided MailOnline with a map showing most of those locations.

Those facilities, run mostly by organizations that receive 8- and 9-figure government grants, have become the stuff of secrecy.

This map from NumbersUSA, an 'immigration-reduction' group, uses red 'warning' triangles for existing shelters yellow map pins for proposed new shelters, and blue push-pins to show where communities have beaten back federal government plans to open new facilities

This map from NumbersUSA, an 'immigration-reduction' group, uses red 'warning' triangles for existing shelters yellow map pins for proposed new shelters, and blue push-pins to show where communities have beaten back federal government plans to open new facilities

Sen. Chuck Grassley is demanding information from HHS about how the Obama administration decides where to spend hundreds of millions of dollars caring for children in the US alone and illegally

Sen. Chuck Grassley is demanding information from HHS about how the Obama administration decides where to spend hundreds of millions of dollars caring for children in the US alone and illegally

One, Baptist Child and Family Services (BCFS), received more than$280 million this year to house illegal immigrant children, according to government records. Time reported in August that It has deployed 1,400 employees this year alone to staff its shelters.

More than 95 per cent of that group's budget in 2012 came from the federal government, according to its tax records.

But even members of Congress can't get answers about the arrangement it has with HHS.

After President Obama requested $3.7 billion in July to grapple with the surge in child illegal immigrant border-crossings, Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley wrote to HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell, demanding an account of how the money would be spent.

Burwell had previously testified that it can cost her agency as much as $1,000 per day to house, clothe, educate, feed and provide medicare care for each child.

'Despite being almost completely dependent on the public, BCFS has faced heavy criticism for attempting to avoid public scrutiny,' Grassley wrote. 

'BCFS staff prohibited a Member of Congress from entering the taxpayer-funded detention center at Fort Sill; prevented a Los Angeles Times reporter from interviewing detainees, caseworkers, and other staff; physically pushed a local TV reporter from the entrance of a facility; and attempted to block the reporter’s camera crew from recording across the street from the facility.'

Lucky ones: These Central American children aboard a cargo train headed north are traveling with their mother, while most come by themselves or with paid 'coyote' smugglers

Lucky ones: These Central American children aboard a cargo train headed north are traveling with their mother, while most come by themselves or with paid 'coyote' smugglers

Investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson says government officials have blocked her attempts to find out more via the Freedom of Information Act.

'It's yet one more case in which the federal government now routinely keeps secret information that is undeniably public and has a tremendous impact on the public,' Attkisson told MailOnline on Thursday.

'How can Congress conduct its oversight role on impact and the contracts being written for tens of millions of tax dollars to care for the minors,' she asked, 'when the government is withholding the most basic information?'

In a reported story for Sinclair Broadcast Group television affiliates, the president of a group that opposes illegal immigration told Attkisson that the Obama administration should explain itself. 

'It's outrageous,' the Federation for American Immigration Reform's Dan Stein said.

'Now, this administration is telling the American people – and Congress – that we’re not even entitled to know where these people are, where they’re being held, what communities are going to be impacted.'

Attkisson is gearing up to promote 'Stonewalled,' a book slated for November release, chronicling her oft-blocked attempts to squeeze public information out of the White House and its satellite agencies. 

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