Migrant Child Welfare and Trafficking

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a Fox News interview that the Trump administration has located more than 127,000 migrant children who were among hundreds of thousands released to sponsors during the Biden years, framing the effort as part of a broader campaign to recover minors at risk of trafficking and abuse. Citing a recent DHS inspector general report, the article notes that roughly 448,000 unaccompanied children entered and were released to sponsors between 2019 and 2023, more than 32,000 failed to appear for immigration court hearings, and ICE lacked reliable data to track many children after release, as Trump has tasked border czar Tom Homan to lead the recovery effort.