New bill would undo Biden's abortion travel funding for 'unaccompanied alien children'

Reps. Mark Harris (R-N.C.) and Mary Miller (R-Ill.) are leading efforts on The No Taxpayer-Funded Abortion Travel for Illegal Aliens Act, aiming to reverse Biden-era policies which used taxpayer dollars to transport unaccompanied alien children (UACs — minors who illegally crossed into the U.S. without parents or legal guardians) across state lines to obtain abortions.  

Key Takeaways:

• Reps. Mark Harris and Mary Miller hope their new bill will reverse Biden administration policies that bypassed the Hyde Amendment and allowed taxpayer funds to be used to transport unaccompanied alien minors to other states for abortions.

• Rep. Harris said Biden's policies turned federal programs into "taxpayer-funded Uber for abortions."

• Rep. Miller remarked that Biden "turned federal agencies into abortion traffickers."

• Despite the White House and Congress's desire to end these Biden-era policies, those rules currently remain unchanged.

The Details:

As Live Action News previously reported:

UAC are particularly vulnerable to exploitation, rape, sex trafficking, and death. UC Berkeley School of Health estimates 60-80% of unaccompanied girls endure sexual assault while traveling to the U.S. Yet, instead of addressing the bad policies that endangered large numbers of UAC on their way to the U.S., ORR and the Biden-Harris administration sought merely to expand rapid access to abortion.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which operates under the authority of Health and Human Services (HHS) and is charged with the temporary custody and care of UACs, published Field Guidance 21 in 2021 requiring staff and providers to “make all reasonable efforts to facilitate access” to abortions, including “transporting a minor to a state in which abortion is lawful and available if the minor is currently in a state in which abortion is not lawful or available.” 

In April 2024, the Biden administration's Unaccompanied Children Foundational Rule became effective and expanded “heightened ORR involvement.” As Daily Signal reported, this rule “formed the basis for the office to provide transportation for a number of minors to receive abortions.”

Live Action News explained how the Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) circumvented the Hyde Amendment (which prohibits the use of taxpayer funds for abortions except in certain circumstances) by expanding interpretations of exemptions to the Hyde Amendment.

Earlier this year, Matthew Veath, the Acting Director of the Executive Office of the President, announced the Trump administration's efforts to reverse the Biden administration’s executive orders. These EOs "promote(d) abortion” by allowing the use of Medicaid funds to cover the costs of travel.

However, the Trump administration stated, “It is the policy of this Administration not to use taxpayer funds to fund, facilitate, or promote abortion, including travel or transportation to obtain an abortion, consistent with the Hyde Amendment and other statutory restrictions on taxpayer funding for abortion.” 

Texas, which has some of the strongest pro-life laws in the nation, is also home to more temporary HHS/ORR contracted housing facilities than any other state, each directly impacted by the expanded Biden-era abortion policies. Texas also had more UACs released to sponsors residing in the state than any other state (63,833 from FY 21-24), according to ORR.

Live Action News noted, “With such a large population of UAC released to sponsors and temporarily housed in Texas under the Biden administration, ORR likely transported young girls across state lines for abortions or brought abortion pills into the state despite Texas’ pro-life and sovereign state laws."

Commentary:

Rep. Harris stated in a press release:

“No American should ever have their tax dollars used to shuttle illegal aliens across state lines for abortions… That’s why we’re fighting to stop these outrageous Biden-era policies that turned federal programs into a taxpayer-funded Uber for abortions. We’re going to end it.”

Rep. Miller added:

“Joe Biden turned federal agencies into abortion traffickers by directing the Office of Refugee Resettlement to arrange and finance abortion travel for illegal alien minors…President Trump’s administration is rightfully moving to reverse this shocking abuse of taxpayer dollars, and I’m proud to partner with Congressman Mark Harris on legislation that permanently ends it.” 

Rep. Harris reports that multiple pro-life groups support the legislation, along with 28 co-sponsors of the bill, including Reps. Robert Aderholt, Brian Babin, Jim Baird, Eric Burlison, Eli Crane, Warren Davidson, Byron Donalds, Randy Fine, Scott Fitzgerald, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Glenn Grothman, Andy Harris, Clay Higgins, Doug LaMalfa, Thomas Massie, John McGuire, Barry Moore, Tim Moore, Bob Onder, August Pfluger, John Rose, Chip Roy, Keith Self, Jefferson Shreve, Marlin Stutzman, Randy Weber, and Daniel Webster.

Currently, the only official changes to safeguards regarding immigration have been set in place by House Republicans in the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) FY 26 appropriations, which disallowed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from using taxpayer funding to facilitate abortions on female adult detainees (with some exceptions). And as of today, the pro-abortion policies of the Biden administration remain on the ORR website. 

The Bottom Line:

Mark Wiltz, Director of Government Affairs for Live Action, said, “No civilized nation should ever use public money to traffic vulnerable migrant girls across state lines for abortions. This rule is a moral disgrace and a violation of both the Hyde Amendment and basic human decency. Lawmakers are absolutely right to reverse it and they should move quickly.”