Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., said Democrats plan to request a Congressional hearing on the health and well-being of immigrant children who have been separated from their parents in a growing crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.
DeGette made her statement at a U.S. House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing while it hosted some of the nation's top health officials—including plenty of Health and Human Services Department representatives—for a hearing on emergency preparedness.
She also referenced a letter sent by ranking member Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., to Sec. Azar regarding the role of the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement in the matter.
RELATED: Amid a national immigration battle, fewer international doctors seek U.S. jobs
Her statement also comes as the American Academy of Pediatric Medicine President Colleen Kraft, M.D., told CNN the separations taking place under a crackdown at the border are equivalent to "child abuse."
"We have real concerns about what's happening to these children and we have real concerns about their long-term prospects," DeGette said. "We would hope you would seriously consider this because we are quite concerned about the human aspects of this."