Trump Administration Drains HIV/AIDS Funding to Pay for Child Detentions

How low can you go, Cheeto? Slate reports that the Trump administration is quietly siphoning funding from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program to pay for their recklessly implemented zero-tolerance immigration policy which has led to the detention of thousands of children who have been separated from their parents.

Slate was able to acquire documents from the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) an agency that is part of the Department of Health and Human Services, that revealed the plan to pay for housing migrant children.

According to Slate, “the internal documents estimate that if 25,400 beds are needed, ORR would face a budget shortfall of $585 million for ORR in fiscal year 2018, which ends on Sept. 30. Under this scenario, that shortfall would increase to $1.3 billion in the first quarter of fiscal year 2019, adding up to a total shortfall of $1.9 billion for the period between Oct. 1, 2017, and Dec. 31, 2018. To help cover these potential costs, the documents say, HHS will seek supplemental appropriations from Congress. The documents also indicate that HHS plans to pay for child separation by reallocating money from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, which, according to its website, ‘provides a comprehensive system of care that includes primary medical care and essential support services for people living with HIV who are uninsured or underinsured.’ Per the documents, the process of transferring those HIV/AIDS funds has already begun. In addition, HHS plans to reallocate $79 million from programs for refugee resettlement, a move that could imperil social services, medical assistance, and English language instructions for refugees in the U.S., as well as programs for torture survivors.” Read the full article here.