Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, released a Department of Health and Human Services report outlining how the Biden administration placed thousands of children into the care of unvetted sponsors, often ignoring department protocol.
The report, released in early August, details how the previous administration “placed over 11,000 migrant children with unvetted sponsors who were not the child’s parent or legal guardian, and did not conduct home studies for over 79,000 migrant children under the age of 12.”
This follows a report from May describing how the Biden-Harris administration dismissed “56,591 notifications of concern, 7,346 reports of human trafficking, and 1,688 fraud leads.”
The Department of Homeland Security is required to “assume custody of and provide care for all unaccompanied alien children from the time they are transferred to HHS from the DHS or federal entity until they are released to a vetted sponsor.”
According to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, a qualifying unaccompanied alien child is one that:
- Has no lawful immigration status in the United States.
- Is under 18 years old.
- Has no parent or legal guardian in the United States or no parent of legal guardian in the United States available to provide care and physical custody.
A report published by the Office of Inspector General in April confirmed that while over 500,000 unaccompanied minors crossed the southern border from 2021-2025, cartel trafficking activity also surged. It outlines how DHS officers “failed to enroll over 233,000 migrant children who crossed the border since January 2021 in immigration proceedings, increasing their risk of trafficking and exploitation.”
John Fabbricatore, HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement senior adviser, described HHS data showing how “Under the Trump administration, 22,638 unaccompanied children have been located so far, and more than 400 sponsors have been arrested. 27 minors were found dead, either by murder, suicide, or drug overdose.”
Fabbricatore continued to describe “children who have been raped ... children are being made to work off debt, trafficking debt. We’re talking about children that were brought into situations and then treated like sexual slaves. Children are in horrific environments.”
During his first 364 days in office, Biden took 296 executive actions on immigration reversing many previous orders signed by President Donald Trump.
As a result, the report states, the United States saw the highest ever recorded monthly influx of illegal immigrants through the southern border, peaking at 301,981 monthly crossings in December 2023. Total border crossings peaked at over 8.3 million by the fall of 2024.
Biden signed a “Proclamation - Securing the Border” on June 3, 2024, aiming to temporarily suspend and limit the entry of aliens at the southern border. While apprehensions did decrease, the total number remained above historical average at over 100,000 per month.
After taking office, Trump signed dozens of executive orders on immigration and border security, many of which have been challenged in court.
Trump has also launched a massive deportation campaign, which Democrats say is separating families and depriving the country of important workers.
As of August, the DHS reported its lowest ever number of encounters at the southern border, just 24,360, or 90% lower than the monthly average under the Biden administration.