Trump administration locates 25,000 previously unaccounted-for unaccompanied migrant children
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KYNJRF The Department of Homeland Security hosted a press briefing to announce end of year numbers regarding immigration enforcement, border security and National security. The briefing was attended by Ronald D. Vitiello, Acting Deputy Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Tom Homan, Senior Official performing the duties of Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Francis Cissna, Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on December 5, 2017. Photographer: Donna Burton
Border Czar Tom Homan announced that the Trump administration has located approximately 25,000 “lost” unaccompanied migrant children who were previously untracked after crossing the border during the Biden administration.
The previous administration made little to no effort to locate around 320,000 children after they were released into the United States to inadequately vetted sponsors.
A 2024 report from the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Inspector General (IG), which tracked cases from October 2018 to September 2023, pointed out the 2021 removal of a provision in an agreement between DHS and Health and Human Services (HHS) that required HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) to provide Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with “biographic and biometric information for all potential sponsors and adult members of their household.”
While some children were in fact with their parents, who were also in the country illegally, many others “were in sex trafficking” and “found in forced labor” conditions, where they were forced to “work ungodly hours, not going to school … not being paid, being abused,” Homan said on Fox News Thursday.
“We’ve rescued thousands of children and President Trump is committed, I’m committed that we’re not gonna stop looking for these children ’til we find every single one of them or run down the leads on them,” Homan said. He noted that 27 of the children had “unfortunately” died.
“So we’re not giving up. This is a major priority for the Trump administration, we’re gonna keep going at it.” A shocking 291,000 unaccompanied minors were never given court dates, leaving immigration authorities unable to track their whereabouts, according to the IG report.
Additionally, 32,000 children released with court dates failed to appear, according to the report. Whistleblowers during the Biden administration highlighted flaws in the vetting process for sponsors, with one telling a Senate panel in July 2024 that the Department of Health and Human Services removed her from her role after she reported children being placed with non-relatives, citing evidence of sadistic abuse.
The vetting relied on a single 30-day follow-up call, often unanswered. HHS whistleblower Deborah White said the agency ignored red flags. “Children were not going to their parents. Children were being trafficked with billions of taxpayer dollars by a contractor failing to vet sponsors and process children safely, with government officials complicit in it,” adding that it “will haunt me for the rest of my life.”
“We never saw sponsors face-to-face and fake documents were rampant. When we questioned documents, ORR leadership said, ‘You’re not a fake ID expert, and your job is not to investigate the sponsor. Your job is to reunify the child with the sponsor,’” she added.
White noted that ORR offered “no training” to spot trafficking or fraud, and her attempts to provide it were blocked. “Contacting the Guatemalan consulate in regard to fake documents resulted in a reprimand … When I checked on a child’s welfare at another facility I was told, ‘Do not do that again. Once these children leave here … they’re gone and they are no longer your responsibility.’”
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