White House border czar Tom Homan said Sunday that federal authorities have rescued more than 62,000 migrant children who were smuggled into the United States during the Biden administration and were at risk of, or already subjected to, trafficking and labor exploitation.
Homan made the comments during an interview on Fox & Friends, describing the effort as one of the Trump administration’s early border-security priorities.
Homan said that “over half a million children were smuggled into this country under Joe Biden” and claimed the previous administration “lost track of 300,000.” His remarks follow a Department of Homeland Security report released last year that found Immigration and Customs Enforcement released roughly 291,000 migrant children without notices to appear in court between fiscal year 2019 and May 2024, limiting the government’s ability to track their location after release.
According to Homan, President Donald Trump directed federal agencies on his first day in office to locate and account for unaccompanied minors who had been released to sponsors or had not been tracked. Homan said the directive led to coordinated operations involving federal, state, and local agencies to identify children at risk, verify their welfare, and investigate potential trafficking networks.
Homan said those operations resulted in the recovery of “over 62,000” children. He stated that investigators found some minors in situations involving sex trafficking, forced labor, or other forms of mistreatment. He did not provide additional details on specific cases, citing the sensitive nature of ongoing investigations.
Homan also criticized the Biden administration’s handling of unaccompanied minors, alleging insufficient oversight and enforcement. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump and Homan repeatedly faulted the administration for losing track of children released into the country. At a campaign rally last year, Trump said that “325,000 migrant children are missing,” attributing that figure to reporting on unaccompanied minor releases.
Homan said the Trump administration’s intensified enforcement operations helped identify instances of trafficking and smuggling that had occurred in prior years. He pointed to increases in border crossings, trafficking incidents, and migrant deaths during the previous administration as evidence of systemic failures that required immediate intervention.
Federal authorities have not yet released updated year-end data on the number of recovered children or the full scope of trafficking investigations opened since January.
