Eric Hargan – Kids Aren’t Lost, Just Not Answering the Phone

This entry is part 42 of 53 in the series Daily Douche-Bag

There was a lot of competition for Douche-bag of the day today, what with Roseanne’s tweet-storm and all, but I’ve elected to award it to Trump’s Health and Human Services Deputy Director Eric Hargan. You may know that the Trump administration has been merrily stripping immigrant children from their parents, and HHS has lost track of about 1,500 of them. Shame on everyone at HHS, but our friend Eric decided to go out and “splain” it all away.

According to Eric, it’s no big deal. Just a big misunderstanding being used to spread confusion and misinformation.  His explanation, “Their sponsors simply have not responded to follow-up calls from the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), the HHS department that oversees the care of unaccompanied alien or minor children.” And in fact, Eric says they’re not responsible at all for the welfare of those children. “The agency was under no obligation to make the 30-day follow-up calls to ensure that the children and their sponsors needed no additional services…” Eric claims it is just an example of the old adage that “no good deed goes unpunished.”

Since Eric so likes “old adages,” here’s one he should heed, “When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.” Because wait until you hear his explanation as to why these sponsors aren’t returning the calls. Again, Eric, “While there are many possible reasons for this, in many cases sponsors cannot be reached because they themselves are illegal aliens and do not want to be reached by federal authorities.”

So let’s just dissemble Eric’s statements here. First, I’m inclined to create a whole new award level going for Douche-bag to “deplorable asshole” for his assertion that the federal agency responsible for separating children from their parents has no obligation to ensure the welfare of those children. that just goes way beyond being a douche-bag.

And then there’s the explanation. We’re expected to believe (and God knows Trump supporters will believe anything) that people who showed up at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility, filled out paperwork, interacted with ICE and Border Patrol Agents to get these kids, and now suddenly afraid to answer their phones? Are you shitting me? We are so far down a rabbit hole at this point, I no longer believe there is any coming back.

So Eric Hargan, for being about the most disgusting jerk in the Administration today, you win our Douche-Bag of the day award with Gold Clusters.