Trump Administration Took Nearly $6 Million from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program to Fund Detained Children Resulting from Horrific Family Separation Immigration Policy

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In tomorrow night’s State of the Union Address, President Donald Trump will reportedly call for the end of HIV transmissions by 2030. Given his past record on such issues, it is difficult to see such promises as anything more than empty rhetoric. Last year, Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services reportedly took nearly $6 million in critical funds from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program to fund the detention of migrant children resulting from the administration’s horrific “zero tolerance” family separation immigration policy.

“If Donald Trump is going to promise to end HIV transmission by 2030, he should follow that up with a pledge to fund the fight against HIV/AIDS rather than use funds allocated for that purpose to instead detain migrant children separated from their families,” said Karl Frisch, a spokesman for Restore Public Trust. “Trump has already siphoned millions in critical funding from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program to pay for his inhumane detention of migrant children. Enough is enough.”

2018: Trump’s Health And Human Resources Department Reportedly Diverted Millions From HIV/AIDS-Related Programming To Fund Its Detention Of Migrant Children. “The Department of Health and Human Services is diverting millions of dollars in funding from a number of programs, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, to pay for housing for the growing population of detained immigrant children […] including $16.7 million from Head Start, $5.7 million from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program and $13.3 million from the National Cancer Institute. Money is also being diverted from programs dedicated to mental and maternal health, women’s shelters and substance abuse.” [Yahoo News, 9/19/18]

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