Equity Forward Issues New Research on Trump’s Disgraced Former ORR Director Scott Lloyd
Research comes as Lloyd slated to testify on role in family separation crisis tomorrow
02.25.19 – In anticipation of former Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) Director Scott Lloyd’s testimony at tomorrow’s House Judiciary Committee hearing, Equity Forward is releasing new research detailing Lloyd’s leadership, or lack thereof, in handling the child separation crisis, as well as the following statement:
“Time and again Scott Lloyd proved he was unqualified and incapable of handling the child separation crisis,” said Mary Alice Carter, Executive Director of Equity Forward. “Lloyd was solely chosen to serve as Refugee Director based on his anti-abortion resume and thousands of children were left to pay the price. Earlier this month, we heard Lloyd’s former deputy Commander Jonathan White testify that he raised concerns to Lloyd about how separations would harm children. Congress must determine whether Lloyd did anything to address these concerns or if he simply went along with Trump’s cruel policy.”
“No matter what we hear tomorrow, the ultimate responsibility for children in ORR care lies with Secretary Azar. Even after Lloyd demonstrated beyond all doubt that he was unfit to lead ORR, Secretary Azar stood by Lloyd. It’s long past time for Azar to be held accountable for HHS’ role in the inhumane child separation crisis. We are glad to finally be hearing from Lloyd, but it’s long past time for Azar to speak himself.”
Scott Lloyd should never have been appointed to head ORR — before taking the helm, Lloyd had zero experience resettling refugee populations. As ORR director, Lloyd made decisions that endangered children in ORR care and resulted in their delayed release, while also spending his time writing a book about his anti-abortion beliefs as separated kids remained stranded in federal detention centers.
Highlights from Equity Forward’s research include information on:
● Lloyd’s participation in a decision to share potential sponsors’ and household members’ biometric information with other federal law enforcement agencies, scaring sponsors away from retrieving children in ORR care;
● Lloyd’s role in waiving ORR-required checks to determine whether staff was fit to work with children at a Tornillo, Texas detention facility;
● Lloyd’s apparent disregard for the expertise of career officials, including Jonathan White, who testified in Congress earlier this month that he raised concerns about the family separation policy to top HHS appointees including Lloyd — and was told the administration would not implement the policy.
Equity Forward has long called on Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar to hold Scott Lloyd to responsible for his role in the cruel and inhumane child separation policy, running full-page ads in the New York Times and Politico calling for accountability.
More information on Lloyd and Azar can be found at HHSWatch.org, an extensive website run by Equity Forward with a library of research on nearly 50 political appointees at our nation's health department who are hostile to reproductive health care.
About Equity Forward
Equity Forward is a watchdog project that seeks to ensure transparency and accountability among anti-reproductive health groups and individuals. In addition to running HHSWatch.org, Equity Forward also runs PutPeopleBeforePolitics.org, which calls on Secretary Azar not to cut nearly $100 million in lifesaving research at the behest of the anti-abortion lobby.
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