The Department of Homeland Security, working with the Department of Health and Human Services, has managed to locate nearly 23,000 missing migrant children less than a year after President Donald Trump reversed President Joe Biden’s open-border policies.
“We found kids in very deplorable, very dirty conditions. We found children who have been raped,” John Fabbricatore, HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement senior advisor, said.
The outlet was granted exclusive access to the “war room” in Washington, D.C., where a team under the Department of Health and Human Services operates with volunteers from agencies including the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations.
The team operates entirely through data analysis, reviewing records and addresses to locate unaccompanied minors. Under the Trump administration, more than 22,000 children have been found to date. Twenty-seven were discovered deceased — from homicide, suicide, car accidents, or drug overdoses — and more than 400 sponsors have been arrested.
“We’re talking about debt bondage, where children are being made to work off trafficking debt. We’re talking about children who were brought into situations and then treated like sexual slaves,” Fabbricatore said.
Records indicate that many children were released to sponsors with inadequate vetting policies.
“What do you think people would be surprised by when it comes to the lack of screening? Well, under the last administration, there was a severe lack of screening. There was no DNA testing to see if there was a familial connection,” the HHS official said.
Beginning in early 2021, a surge of children crossed the border faster than the Department of Health and Human Services could process. Between January 2021 and December 2024, the Office of Refugee Resettlement received more than 470,000 referrals of unaccompanied minors.
HHS later acknowledged that many were placed with sponsors under lax vetting policies that failed to safeguard against neglect, labor exploitation, trafficking, and physical or sexual abuse.
To address the failures, a new team now focuses on data analysis, reviewing records and addresses to trace where the children ended up.
