U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement revealed on Thursday that the Trump administration is working to track down immigrant children trafficked into abusive situations under the open borders policies of the Biden years.
The agency said in a release that after the United States saw “a record surge in the number of unaccompanied alien children crossing its southern border” over the past four years, many of those children found themselves trapped in “physical abuse and sexual and labor exploitation.”
Many children were released to sponsors “without proper vetting,” meaning federal authorities authorized their transfer to people who “had paid smugglers to bring the children into the country or fraudulently claimed familial relationships.”
Since the Trump administration launched an initiative in February to track down the children, agents have discovered many in unspeakable situations.
“Special agents discovered sponsors in possession of child sexual abuse material, those who had forced minors into labor, and those who subjected them to living conditions that constituted neglect,” ICE said in the release.
“They also discovered numerous sponsors who committed serious crimes, including offenses of hit-and-run, aggravated assault, larceny, counterfeiting, drug trafficking, prostitution and even attempted murder.”
At least some cases involved sponsors impregnating girls placed into their care.
ICE agents have continued to conduct welfare checks to ensure children are attending school, complying with immigration policy, and avoiding exploitation.
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“These welfare checks are not primarily immigration enforcement focused, but if ICE agents or officers encounter individuals who are in the United States illegally, they take them into custody and process them for removal in accordance with federal immigration law,” the release continued.
ICE spokesperson Laszlo Baksay blasted the Biden administration, noting that their “failure to implement meaningful safeguards has allowed vulnerable kids to fall into the hands of criminals.”
The official added, “Our special agents are working tirelessly to locate these alien children, ensure their protection, and hold accountable those who have abused the system.”
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, noted in an April release that over 500,000 children crossed the southern border under the unaccompanied alien children program.
The initiative involved “inadequate safeguards, lax vetting procedures and limited inter-agency communication.”
Those factors “allowed children to be lost or released to dangerous adult sponsors.”
A report from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General found that the agency, as well as the Department of Health and Human Services, “lost track of hundreds of thousands of migrant children.”
Department of Homeland Security officials “failed to enroll over 233,000 migrant children who crossed the border since January 2021 in immigration proceedings,” which increased their risk for abuse.
Over 43,000 children failed to appear for their proceedings.
In fiscal years 2023 and 2024 alone, over 24,100 children were released to “unrelated sponsors or distant relatives.”
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