Republicans push Biden admin on baby formula to migrants amid national shortage

Republican lawmakers and officials are pushing the Biden administration on the extent to which illegal immigrants are being given baby formula — just as Americans are facing a crushing national shortage.

The U.S. government is legally obligated to care for and feed those in its custody and care, including illegal immigrant children — whether they are being detained at the border by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or, in the case of unaccompanied migrant children (UACs), being cared for by Health and Human Services (HHS). 

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That would include providing formula for infant children, and it is a standard requirement for government facilities to offer that to migrants — including in prior administrations such as the Trump administration. 

However, with an ongoing crisis at the border, and a national shortage at home, some Republicans are linking the border crisis to the issues with formula supply. That border crisis is expected to worsen once Title 42 — a public health order used to quickly expel a majority of migrants due to the COVID-19 crisis — is ended by the Biden administration at the end of the month.

In a letter to Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security, Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., noted that during the 2019 border crisis, Border Patrol spent $230 million on “snacks, diapers and baby formula.”

“With officials anticipating up to 18,000 illegal immigrants crossing our southern border every single day once Title 42 is terminated, it is safe to assume the costly figure will rise even higher,” Banks says. “Sadly, while dealing with the consequences of the Biden administration’s border crisis, Texas is grappling with another crisis: Young parents are unable to feed their children.”