The Trump administration has located 62,000 children who entered the U.S. unaccompanied under the previous administration, according to border czar Tom Homan.
“Some of these children were in sex trafficking—we found them. Some were in forced labor, some were being mistreated—I can’t even discuss some of the mistreatment we found out about,” Homan said Sunday on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends Weekend.”
“President [Donald] Trump, again, proves why he’s the greatest president in my lifetime,” Homan added. “Over 62,000 children rescued by President Trump, again, children that were ignored and weren’t being looked for under President [Joe] Biden.”
Under the Biden administration, hundreds of thousands of illegal alien minors arrived at the southern border alone and were released into the care of sponsors, but the Biden administration did not track the location or status of each child after placement.
Between fiscal years 2019 and 2023, more than 448,000 unaccompanied alien children were transferred from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody to the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services, and most of those children were placed in the care of a sponsor. A sponsor could be a close or distant family member and sometimes had no direct family relation to the minor.
Among the 448,000 minors to enter the U.S. in recent years, ICE failed to issue more than 233,000 notices to appear in immigration court, Joseph Cuffari, inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, told lawmakers in July. Furthermore, more than 43,000 migrant children who were given a notice to appear in immigration court failed to do so.
The Trump administration is now working to safety return unaccompanied migrant children to their home countries, The Daily Signal previously reported.
The Trump-backed “Big, Beautiful Bill” now provides the Department of Health and Human Services with the ability to repatriate to their home country children who entered the U.S. alone.
Migrant children have consistently been a hot-button issue in recent years. Reports of “kids in cages” spread like wildfire thought the media during the first Trump administration.
In 2018, the Trump administration rolled out the Zero-Tolerance Policy for Criminal Illegal Entry, under which illegal aliens were prosecuted for entering the country illegally. Children cannot legally accompany adults into custody, hence family separation ensued, and minors were held in Border Patrol processing centers.
Facing backlash, the first Trump administration issued an executive order to stop the separation of families at the border.
When Biden took office in January 2021, he ended Trump’s border security measures, and mass migration, including of unaccompanied children, ensued. More than 10 million illegal aliens entered the U.S. in four years, flooding the immigration courts and overwhelming the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which operates under HHS and held responsibility for matching unaccompanied migrant children with sponsors.
A strained system led to poor vetting, rapid placement of minors with sponsors, and even abuses of the sponsor program, such as gang members applying to sponsor a migrant child, as whistleblower Aaron Stevenson previously exposed.
Working as an analyst for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in 2021, Stevenson began to notice that aliens with gang affiliations were applying to be sponsors for unaccompanied migrant children.
It’s Stevenson’s view that the primary reason gang members were seeking to sponsor children was financial.
“I think advantageous networks saw a situation, and they exploited it,” Stevenson said.
Finding the children placed with sponsors during the Biden administration is challenging, according to Homan, because children do not leave a digital footprint through credit cards, mortgage payments, or other transactions that allow authorities to track their location.
Still, Homan says, Homeland Security Investigations agents are working every day to find the missing migrant children and “make sure they’re safe.”
Virginia Allen is a senior news producer for The Daily Signal and host of “The Daily Signal Podcast” and “Problematic Women.” Send an email to Virginia.
Reprinted with permission from The Daily Signal by Virginia Allen.
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
Would be interesting to hear how VIEW sees it. All the human rights advocates, anti slavery mouth pieces, feminists and fighters for dignity and humanity, Hilary and Michele Obama, those two mothers of the year, pro family and pro children, where are they all hiding? Why are they not shouting from the roof tops, quiet little miss mousies .How did these kids end up here, how did they make the journey and where are the parents, were they sold?
THANK YOU President Trump for actually rescuing the children, instead of just talking about it (like past presidents, from both parties).
Many [most?] of these children were used to simplify the entry of adults. “Rent-a-children” were used multiple times. “Families” had children with ZERO link when tested for DNA. Others were used to pay the cartels for their parents’ “debts.” Sickening, but little or no “news” coverage because it doesn’t fit the DIMM narrative!
The democrat party is made up of people who are enemies of the United States of America. Anyone who votes for a democrat is voting for the destruction of our country. PERIOD!
Heartbreaking and absolutely outrageous!! It means a lot to know that these poor, dear kids are being rescued. I’ve been praying hard for that for years. May they find places of healing and nurture. Best, may the ones who were kidnapped be reunited with their families. And may the Lord Jesus continue to spread His protection over all law enforcement who search for these kids, and may He guide them to the kids. And may their tormentors and captors be persecuted to the max! I’m also praying for peace for Tom Holman and his agents. They’ve seen unspeakable things!
Joebama, kackling kumbaya, and maydorkas all need to be prosecuted. Those children that were rescued will face a lifetime of mental issues after what they experienced.
You won’t see this story covered on CNN.
Thank you President Trump you are a great and caring person and we are grateful for you!!! As you can see the Socialist Democratic Party to include the wives of the former Presidents do not care about human life of any kind!!! The Socialist Democratic Party to include all enemies of America and the American people must be destroyed at all cost!!
Check the homes of local DEMOPERVS, LOOK IN THE ATTIC OR BASEMENT…I’M OFTEN REMINDED OF HOW MANY OF THESE POOR CHILDREN WERE FOUND DURING BIDENS TERM, THE ANSWER IS ………NONE
62000 children,and this ok with dems?
Again the unfeeling evil democrats have shown their true colors by how they treated these children who came here alone. They were put into pedophilia, work slaves and exploited in many other ways. Again the democrats have no excuse.president Trump has the empathy to rescue them from a life of hell and degradation. Kudos to all the federal authorities in rescuing these children. May all be found.
This is a good thing. Children need to be with family that won’t misuse or abuse them. A friend of mine used to go to Mexico close to our border to do mission work. There was a dump that she and her team used to go to. It was a place where many children lived. There was a Vietnam vet and his wife that brought big pots of food to the dump several time a week. So, at least a few times a week these children didn’t have to wonder where the food was coming from.
The Democrats are totally responsible for the condition of these children were in and how they were found.
Obviously Democrats couldn’t care less about the safety of children. They do love to murder them, though.
imo
How wonderful for these children to be free of the abuse they were sold into. May they get the help they need to overcome the evil effects of their captors. Now they must find the rest of the missing/captive children, if they are alive.
Good job Autopen
I’d like to learn more about how the children are reunited with their parents. Someone pointed out in a comment below that these children were given to the cartels to pay a debt. If so, why return them to their parents because it could happen again.
Victory Hooray
Another great job by msm investigative journalist, oh wait, they did nothing but push misinformation about Trump. JMO
ICE needs to check the Indian reservations in Oklahoma for
Sex trafficking. Rumors are rampant and sheriffs officers have seen it going on but can’t do anything since it’s on the reservations. I have heard the rumors but don’t have any information otherwise
There is a special place in hell for these people.
This is precisely why any party that condones such actions against children cannot be trusted. Under Biden’s watch, children have been taken to places where they have vanished, along with the humanitarian ideals that were meant to protect them. Where are the passionate voices rising in the streets to defend the innocence of these children, who are being exploited in unimaginable ways? Why aren’t our news outlets shining a spotlight on this critical moment of lives being saved? It is time for us to unite as Americans, rallying alongside Homan and ICE, with the unwavering support of Trump, to mend the fabric of our nation. Remarkable progress has been made in such a short time, but as citizens, we must remain vigilant and steadfast. We must collectively recognize that real change requires the commitment and effort of us all.
first,how did this happen in U S A ?
Are dems,really this ignorant or did they benefit somhow from these kids.
I have noticed the more greed we find the louder dems. scream.
Look at net worth of dems. and ask where it came from.
If Dems, regain control of u.s.a. again we will be a socialist country.
WAKE UP voters,it,s time to speak,and stop ALL illigals from voting FOR YOU
Too bad the activist judges don’t even care enough to kick an illegal alien who trafficked children like a Garcia out of the country. What the devil must have promised the biden administration to allow this to go on must have been a very BIGLY sum
It is hard for me to believe that all of these children were placed in families that only caused more pain and agony to them. Can Homen really verify that zero of these children are not better off & being raised as Jesus wanted us to and that is to provide and safe and healthy life. Sending them back to a country as a single child does not seem like a way to ruin their life further.