Joe Biden’s Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) has blown through a whopping $20 billion in taxpayer dollars over the past two years. Overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the ORR is a program directed by the HSS subagency, the Administration for Children and Families.
A record number of illegal immigrants crossed the U.S. border in 2023 — with some estimates suggesting the Biden government knowingly released upwards of 100,000 illegals into the United States each month. The surge in crossings is reflected in Biden government appropriations, with refugee and entrant assistance costs rising from $8.925 billion in 2022 to $10.928 billion in 2023. Since Biden took office in January of 2021, it is believed over 10 million illegal immigrants have crossed into the U.S.
The ORR’s expanding budget has drawn additional scrutiny from watchdog groups. A dramatic upsurge in discretionary grant spending occurred between 2021 and 2023. In 2021 the ORR granted $33 million, but this figure rose to over $400 million in 2022 and escalated to over $600 million in 2023.
Concerns have been raised regarding potential conflicts of interest between ORR leadership and major grant recipients. ORR director Robin Dunn Marcos’s relationships with two nonprofit groups – among the agency’s top grantees – are attracting the interest of watchdogs and government ethics groups.
Before joining the ORR, Marcos spent twenty-three years with the International Rescue Committee‘s branch in Phoenix, Arizona, and four years with Church World Service. Both non-profits have received over $100 million in grant money from the ORR over the past decade.
