Feds lost track of tens of thousands of unaccompanied alien children after release

In a new report, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inspector general found that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is unable to effectively monitor the location and status of each unaccompanied alien child (UAC) who comes into the U.S. illegally and is released from custody.

Inspector General Joseph V. Cuffari said in the report that between fiscal years 2019 and 2023, ICE transferred over 448,000 UACs into the custody of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. From there, most of the UACs were released to sponsors.

But over 31,000 of those 448,000 children were released to addresses that were left blank, had missing apartment numbers or were undeliverable.

The IG also noted that ICE did not always know the location of UACs who fled while in HHS custody.

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Cuffari said an investigation into the matter found ICE did not issue notices to appear (NTA) to all UACs, which would have generated assignment of immigration court dates by the Department of Justice (DOJ), and as of January this year, it had not served NTAs on over 233,000 unaccompanied children.

Of the UACs who were served NTAs before October 2024, over 43,000 failed to appear for their scheduled court dates.

The report also found that ICE was not always notified about the safety or status of the children unless it received a tip. However, those issues, the IG said, happened because ICE was not always notified about the locations of sponsors by other federal agencies.

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Cuffari acknowledged staffing to be able to monitor each UAC was limited, and without that ability, there was no assurance the children were safe from trafficking, exploitation, forced labor or criminal activity.

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Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Tex., brought up the crisis involving unaccompanied alien minors during a House Homeland Security Committee Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement hearing on March 25.

He was told that during the Biden administration, HHS lost track of many of the minors and that some were subjected to trafficking, child labor and other things.

“The Biden administration’s total failure at the border had disastrous consequences, and it’s shameful that even innocent, unaccompanied children were caught in the crosshairs,” Gonzales told FOX News. “The fact that we can’t locate tens of thousands of these minors in the U.S. is completely unacceptable, as it’s likely that many of these children have ended up in dangerous situations. Not having answers is unacceptable, and it’s past time to put our heads together to fix this problem for good.”