President Donald Trump’s Homeland Security Investigations rescued two migrant sisters from sex slavery, according to a Tuesday report.
Sources told the New York Post that the Honduran nationals, 16 and 18 years old, crossed the border into the U.S. as unaccompanied minors.
‘Unlike the previous administration, President Trump and Secretary Noem take the responsibility to protect children seriously and will continue to work with federal law enforcement to reunite children with their families.’
On Saturday, HSI special agents rescued the sisters from a hotel in West Covina, California. The two were reportedly held in captivity and forced into prostitution.
According to sources, Christopher Ramirez was accused of “pimping” the sisters and arrested on local charges. Ramirez will also reportedly face federal charges.
Federal agents are still searching for co-conspirators who assisted with trafficking the sisters from Texas to California, the Post reported.
The outlet stated that the younger sister was transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services, which is the agency responsible for placing unaccompanied minors with U.S.-based sponsors. The older sister was released after refusing federal services.
The sisters’ rescue is tied to a broader effort by the Trump administration to locate migrant children the federal government lost track of after they crossed the border alone and were placed with sponsors in the U.S. Trump has prioritized reuniting the children with their relatives.
Under the former Biden administration, the federal government lost contact with more than 320,000 unaccompanied migrant minors, leaving the children vulnerable to sex and labor trafficking.
From fiscal years 2019 to 2023, Immigration and Customs Enforcement transferred custody of 448,000 unaccompanied minors to the HHS’ Office of Refugee Resettlement. In theory, the ORR was to prioritize placing children with thoroughly vetted, related sponsors. However, the agency was overwhelmed by the exploding border crisis and pressured to make placements quickly.
An inspector general report found that 32,000 unaccompanied minors did not appear for their immigration court dates, and ICE failed to serve Notice to Appear documents to 291,000.
“By not issuing NTAs to all UCs, ICE limits its chances of having contact with UCs when they are released from HHS’ custody, which reduces opportunities to verify their safety,” the report read.
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin previously stated that within Trump’s first 70 days, the administration had already reunited approximately 5,000 children with family or a “safe guardian.”
“Unlike the previous administration, President Trump and Secretary Noem take the responsibility to protect children seriously and will continue to work with federal law enforcement to reunite children with their families,” McLaughlin said.
ICE told Blaze News that it cannot comment on ongoing investigations.
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