Biden Administration’s Efforts to Locate Unaccompanied Minors

Exclusive insights reveal that a team has been focused on tracking down tens of thousands of unaccompanied children who crossed the border and subsequently vanished from the system during the Biden era. It’s quite a staggering number.

Under the previous Trump administration, the tally reached 22,638 unaccompanied minors, with more than 400 sponsors apprehended. The Department of Health and Human Services reported that 27 of these minors lost their lives due to reasons like murder, suicide, or overdoses.

John Fabricatore, an advisor with the HHS office for refugee resettlement, emphasized the critical need to identify cases where children are at risk of being trafficked for labor or sex. “It’s important to find these cases,” he stated, which really highlights the gravity of the situation.

The team convened in March, implementing a promise made during Trump’s campaign—to ensure these children’s safety and identify sponsors. Many minors had been released to unknown sponsors or non-family members, leaving them highly susceptible to exploitation and severe working conditions.

The HHS teams, which include volunteers from various agencies like the FBI and Homeland Security, operate under a framework known as the ORR Inter-Province Crime Coordination Cell, colloquially known as the “War Room” in Washington, D.C.

Fabricatore noted that, unfortunately, many minors they located were found in dire situations. “We found children who were raped,” he stated, painting a harrowing picture of their realities. “There are cases of debt bondage, where these kids are forced into horrific living conditions.” Frankly, it’s a sobering reminder of the situations these children find themselves in.

In the early months of 2021, a flood of children began crossing the border, overwhelming the HHS. Between January 2021 and December 2024, over 470,000 referrals for unaccompanied minors were received by ORR. Many of these kids ended up with sponsors under a surprisingly lenient review system that failed to prioritize their safety, leading to numerous reports of negligence and exploitation.

The new team has taken a data-focused approach to track the eventual whereabouts of these minors. Yet, there’s still significant concern regarding the quality of recordkeeping under the Biden administration. Fabricatore remarked, “There was not much good recordkeeping,” which is troubling, to say the least.

During Trump’s presidency, efforts were made to refine the screening process for those under the care of HHS, implementing measures such as DNA testing and background checks for potential sponsors to ensure they were fit to care for a child.

“Now, we are ensuring there’s a real family connection through DNA,” Fabricatore explained. He underscored that, while some children have remained in custody for prolonged periods, this is essential for their safety. After all, the ultimate goal is to protect these vulnerable kids.

Upon taking office, the Trump administration faced a backlog of over 65,000 reports related to unaccompanied minors, highlighting serious concerns regarding child safety, including potential trafficking and exploitation.

According to the ORR, around 1,700 cases were identified where children under 12 were placed with unrelated sponsors without adequate home evaluations. As of now, about 90% of the backlog has been resolved, although nearly 7,000 reports are still pending.

Fabricatore mentioned that the aim when children are located is often to reunite them with parents in their home countries, assuming that no valid fears for their safety are presented. “If parents are in their original countries and safety can be assured, shouldn’t the child be with them rather than in the U.S.?” he pondered. It’s a complex situation filled with many shades of gray.