close
close

houdoebrabant

NL News 2024

Cherokee Federal Responds to Whistleblower Allegations
powertid

Cherokee Federal Responds to Whistleblower Allegations

Senator James Lankford and other Senate Republicans hosted a roundtable discussion on Capitol Hill last week.

The roundtable criticized the Biden administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, and Oklahoma contractor Cherokee Federal, accusing them of facilitating the trafficking of migrant children crossing the border.

“It’s bizarre to even say this out loud: that we have to fight this administration to stop facilitating human trafficking in our own country,” said Senator Lankford.

The discussion focused on criticism of the Biden administration’s Department of Health and Human Services and Cherokee Federal, a Tulsa-based government contractor.

“The program prioritized speed over safety. HHS, ORR and Cherokee Federal, the prime contractor, created a so-called Strike Team to remove children more quickly, ignoring warnings from case managers that children were being trafficked,” said Deborah White.

The conversation included two federal employees who say they have worked for HHS at the border since 2021.

The roundtable lasted two hours and was chaired by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa.

Whistleblowers allege negligence has resulted in children being handed over to criminals and sex offenders.

Cherokee Federal, based in Tulsa, is part of the Cherokee Nation Business Umbrella and provides government contracting services.

President Steven Bilby says these allegations are false and gave the following statement to News On 6:

Chief of Police Chuck Hoskin Jr. also wrote a letter to Senator Grassley and Senator Lankford addressing the allegations.

Click here to watch the full roundtable.