Lost in the System: How Migrant Children Are Exploited Within Our Own Borders

A recent report from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) is just further evidence of this sad reality.

Last month, researchers released a heartbreaking report revealing that of the nearly 450,000 unaccompanied minors (UACs) transferred from DHS care to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) since fiscal year (FY) 2019, more than 291,000 were not given a Notice of Appearance. More than 32,000 who did received notices of failure to appear for their immigration hearing. Of those 291,000, more than 90,000 were found in FY 2021 alone. The OIG came to this solemn conclusion: “(UACs) who fail to appear in immigration court are considered to be at increased risk of trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor.”

This is just the latest in a series of unacceptable failures to care for the more than 512,000 UACs that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has encountered at the southern border under the Biden administration.

These minors endure unspeakable hardships to reach the border, including physical violence, sexual abuse, and the indignity of being used to create “fake families” to ensure the rapid release of family units — which this administration largely no longer holds. Even when agents suspect a family is not legitimate, CBP has adopted a policy of conducting DNA testing only with the consent of the adult migrant claiming responsibility for the child.

The nightmare doesn’t end when these minors arrive in the United States. After they’re processed, DHS releases them to HHS for placement with “sponsors” across the country. But numerous reports from government watchdogs and whistleblowers have exposed how problematic this process is.

For example, a September 2022 HHS OIG report found that in early 2021, “basic safeguards” had been removed “from the sponsor screening process in an effort to expedite the release of children from care.” Another February 2024 HHS OIG report found that an audit of records from March through April 2021 found that 16% of those cases “lacked documentation” showing that “required safeguards for sponsors had been completed.”

According to an independent grand jury investigation into government policy, “In one memorable case, a federal employee was told by an ORR attorney to stop asking questions about potentially unsafe sponsors because it was causing delays, and ‘(W)e only get sued if we hold them too long. We don’t get sued by traffickers. Are we clear?'”

It would be forgiven to assume that HHS is adequately vetting the individuals to whom it releases these vulnerable children. That assumption would be incorrect.

And the consequences are devastating.

An immigration expert recently testified before the House Homeland Security Committee that these children have been released into clearly abusive, unsafe situations: “(Girls) have been placed with older men in what is clearly an exploitative situation. There are children who have been turned over to labor traffickers. There are children who have been turned over to gang members. There are children who have been placed in domestic servitude and other forms of abuse.”

The grand jury investigation documented a shocking incident in which more than 100 children were sent to the same address in Austin, Texas, while other addresses received 44 and 25 minors, respectively.

It should come as no surprise then that in July last year the Ministry of Labour reported a 44% increase in child victims of forced labour. As reported by the New York Times, “(A)ll along time, there were signs of the explosive growth of this workforce and warnings that the Biden administration ignored or overlooked.”

The House Homeland Security Committee has been raising these concerns for years and continues to scrutinize the Biden administration’s handling of the situation. We are still awaiting the fulfillment of our request for documents and information on multiple matters, including the number of UACs placed with sponsors who have been charged, convicted, or investigated for a crime against a child.

While I do not believe this mass exploitation and abuse was the desired outcome of the Biden administration’s border policies, we must evaluate those policies based on outcomes, not intentions. This administration has failed to protect these children at every turn, effectively enabling a system that allows trafficking and abuse to continue.

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The failures exposed in this latest DHS OIG report further demonstrate how this is one of the most egregious humanitarian crises of our time. It is unconscionable to allow it to continue.

My committee will continue to speak with sources, law enforcement professionals, and experts in anti-trafficking and anti-smuggling efforts who are blowing the whistle on this system. We will get answers and work to end the policies that have put these children in danger.

Rep. Mark E. Green, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, represents Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District.