Newly released documents from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) show that more than 65,000 serious concerns raised by government employees and contractors about unaccompanied minors in federal custody went uninvestigated during the Biden-Harris administration.
🚨🚨NEW: THE BIDEN ADMIN LEFT THOUSANDS OF REPORTS OF CONCERNS ABOUT UNACCOMPANIED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHILDREN UNRESOLVED.
Sen. @ChuckGrassley, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, today released a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) summary revealing thousands of… pic.twitter.com/KT28ChiRB1
— Susan Crabtree (@susancrabtree) May 29, 2025
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The flagged cases, which were identified between 2021 and 2024, involve potential abuse, human trafficking, and sponsor fraud.
The materials were obtained by Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and shared with the Washington Examiner.
The backlog of reports was discovered as the Trump administration continues to evaluate Biden-era immigration policies, particularly related to the release of unaccompanied children from HHS custody to adult sponsors in the United States.
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“Not a single child should continue to suffer because of the previous administration’s failures,” Grassley wrote in a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., urging a full investigation into the cases ignored under President Biden’s leadership.
HHS documentation reviewed by Grassley revealed the scope of the issues:
- 56,591 reports flagged as concerns
- 7,346 reports involving suspected human trafficking
- 1,688 reports of suspected sponsor fraud
Despite the large number of reports, only 528 leads were formally referred by HHS to federal law enforcement for investigation.
HHS data confirmed my ovrsight &revealed Biden-Harris admin IGNORED 65000+ concerning reports abt unaccompanied migrant children incl 7300+ reports of HUMAN TRAFFICKING So far Trump admin has processed 28% of backlog resulting in 528 leads+7 indictments+11 arrests+3 convictions
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) May 29, 2025
Of those, the U.S. Attorney’s office accepted 36 cases for prosecution. So far, seven individuals have been indicted, 11 arrested, and three convicted on federal charges.
“This is a great first step in protecting these children, although HHS reports it has 46,311 backlogged cases still to work through,” Grassley stated in the letter.
The senator has a long history of oversight related to the treatment of unaccompanied minors, dating back to the 2014 migrant child crisis under the Obama administration.
Last year, he raised alarm again after reviewing HHS contractor records that suggested children were being placed in the custody of suspicious sponsors.
The information came from whistleblowers and included referrals to the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
“[W]histleblowers have confirmed the issues my oversight identified in these records were present at other HHS facilities, raising the specter that thousands of children may have been placed in harm’s way nationwide by the Biden administration,” Grassley wrote.
Under Joe Biden, more than 500,000 unaccompanied minors crossed the U.S.-Mexico border—surpassing the numbers under any previous administration.
Once in U.S. custody, children were transferred from Border Patrol agents to HHS care and then released to adults within the country.
Grassley expressed frustration over the Biden-Harris administration’s lack of transparency and its failure to comply with oversight requests.
“After I made this urgent inquiry, HHS under Secretary [Xavier] Becerra obstructed my investigation and instructed contractors and grantees not to answer, and to instead send my inquiry to the Assistant Secretary for Legislation, who of course also failed to provide any requested information,” Grassley wrote.
To address the backlog, the Trump administration launched a cross-agency initiative in February focused on reviewing the flagged cases, prioritizing leads involving trafficking and sponsor abuse.
The effort aims to determine which reports require immediate investigation and potential prosecution.
Grassley is urging HHS to provide regular updates on the review process, including details on the Trump administration’s progress and any steps being taken to identify and dismantle trafficking networks that may have exploited the system.
He also called on HHS to explain its role in facilitating or ignoring these reports, and what actions it will take to ensure that no more children are placed at risk.
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