Child Trafficking Case Highlighted by White House Official

Tom Homan, speaking at a Republican National Bar Association event, revealed that a 14-year-old foreign child was found in Texas, allegedly being trafficked by two adult men. This incident, which occurred two days prior to his speech, illustrates the broader issues encountered in the ongoing search for unaccompanied minor children since the Biden administration initiated policies regarding their release.

At the 2025 National Policy Conference in Washington, D.C., Homan, referred to as Trump’s border czar, expressed concerns about the search for over 500,000 unaccompanied children released to the United States, claiming that about 300,000 of them are currently missing.

Homan emphasized his belief that many of these children are subjected to forced labor. He shared details about the recently discovered case of the 14-year-old who is now under the care of the Department of Homeland Security for both physical and mental health issues.

While he did not disclose the identities of the two men involved in the alleged trafficking of the child, he conveyed the emotional weight of the topic. Homan reflected on his experiences, noting how children impacted by these situations have left a mark on him as a professional.

“Despite what the media portrays, we truly care about these children,” Homan stated. He mentioned his own feelings as a father, highlighting that the emotional weight is particularly heavy for him given his encounters with dying children throughout his career.

Finding the 300,000 missing children presents a considerable challenge for the administration, according to Homan. He mentioned that tracking these children is complicated since they lack some of the identification markers that adults typically have, like property ownership or regular billing addresses.

Homan criticized the Department of Health and Human Services for making it harder to locate these children due to inadequate processes during the Biden administration. For instance, he noted that many children were not fingerprinted and essential identification details may not have been recorded properly during their release.

A March report from the DHS Inspector’s Office revealed that more than 233,000 of the unaccompanied children have not been recorded in immigration proceedings. Additionally, over 43,000 individuals who are in the system have failed to appear for hearings.

The report indicated that some sponsors in the United States, who were supposed to take care of the children, have changed addresses without notifying the authorities, further complicating efforts to locate these minors.