Border Czar and former acting ICE Director Tom Homan said Tuesday that federal officials under President Donald Trump have located more than 30,000 missing migrant children as part of an expanded recovery effort between the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Homan said the initiative is aimed at accounting for minors who were smuggled into the country and later lost in federal tracking systems. He said the previous administration’s handling of unaccompanied children left hundreds of thousands unaccounted for.
“Where were they when half a million children were smuggled into this country, and they lost track of 300,000?” Homan said in a Fox News interview. “We’ve already found over 30,000 of these kids. Three weeks ago, we were at 24,000. Now, we’re over 30,000.”
Homan said the Trump administration’s enforcement posture has enabled agencies to identify trafficking routes and locate missing minors. “There is now less fentanyl killing Americans, less sex trafficking of women and children. And we’re finding children that the Biden administration wasn’t even looking for,” he said.
According to DHS, nationwide border encounters dropped to 30,561 in October — the lowest number for that month in agency history and the lowest start of a fiscal year ever recorded by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Democratic lawmakers have spoken about DHS policies relating to unaccompanied minors. Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Illinois, and other House Democrats questioned reports that certain minors age 14 and older were being permitted to return to their home countries voluntarily.
According to documents obtained by the Associated Press, HHS informed shelters on Oct. 3 that some children in custody had asked to return home. DHS said it would provide a one-time $2,500 stipend for minors whose voluntary departure is approved by an immigration judge.
ICE spokesperson Emily Covington said the option allows minors “to make an informed decision about their future,” noting that many were “dangerously smuggled into this country.”
Homan’s comments come as DHS launches a new initiative to conduct welfare checks on unaccompanied children placed with sponsors, a process federal officials say is intended to ensure child safety and identify potential trafficking risks.
