Federal Watchdog: Biden-Harris Agencies Resettle 365K Migrant Kids in U.S., Many Now 'At Risk of Trafficking, Exploitation, or Forced Labor'

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’s agencies have released hundreds of thousands of migrant children from the southern border into the United States. A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General (IG) report reveals many are “at risk for trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor.”

The DHS IG report looked into the massive pipeline under Biden and Harris where Unaccompanied Migrant Children (UCs) arrive at the border, are taken into DHS custody before being transferred to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) custody, and more likely than not resettled with adult sponsors in American communities — the majority of whom are not the UC’s biological parents.

In particular, the report notes that from Fiscal Year 2021 through Fiscal Year 2023, Biden and Harris’s agencies have released about 365,705 UCs into the U.S. interior. For comparison, the last two fiscal years of the Trump administration released just about 83,100 UCs into the U.S. interior.

Frequently, the report states, tens of thousands of UCs are now showing up to their immigration hearings following their release into the U.S. interior and, more alarmingly, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has failed to provide Notices to Appear (NTAs) in immigration court to hundreds of thousands of UCs:

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could not monitor the location and status of all unaccompanied migrant children (UCs) or initiate removal proceedings as needed. During our ongoing audit to assess ICE’s ability to monitor the location and status of UCs who were released or transferred from the custody of the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), we learned ICE transferred more than 448,000 UCs to HHS from fiscal years 2019 to 2023. However, ICE was not able to account for the location of all UCs who were released by HHS and did not appear as scheduled in immigration court. ICE reported more than 32,000 UCs failed to appear for their immigration court hearings from FYs 2019 to 2023. [Emphasis added]

Additionally, even though HHS is responsible for the care and custody of UCs, ICE did not always inform HHS’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) when UCs failed to appear in immigration court after release from HHS’ custody. ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers at only one of the eight field offices we visited stated they attempted to locate the UCs. ICE also did not serve a Notice to Appear (NTA) on all UCs, after release from HHS custody, who warranted placement in removal proceedings under 8 U.S. Code Section 1229(a). As of May 2024, ICE had not served NTAs on more than 291,000 UCs who therefore do not yet have an immigration court date. [Emphasis added]

The influx of UCs coupled with the failure of Biden and Harris’s agencies to provide adequate oversight of UCs once they are released into the U.S. interior may be a major contributor to an explosion in child labor trafficking in recent years, the report suggests.

Last October, Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) Director Robin Dunn Marcos admitted that background checks on adult sponsors are done in “some cases” but not all. Dunn Marcos said the agency does not do home visits in all cases to check on UCs.

Senator Josh Hawley / YouTube

“Based on our audit work and according to ICE officials, UCs who do not appear for court are considered at higher risk for trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor,” the report states:

Although we identified more than 32,000 UCs who did not appear for their immigration court dates, that number may have been much larger had ICE issued NTAs to the more than 291,000 UCs who were not placed into removal proceedings. By not issuing NTAs to all UCs, ICE limits its chances of having contact with UCs when they are released from HHS’ custody, which reduces opportunities to verify their safety. Without an ability to monitor the location and status of UCs, ICE has no assurance UCs are safe from trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor. [Emphasis added]

Earlier this month, Reps. Mark Green (R-TN), Clay Higgins (R-LA), and Dan Bishop (R-NC) sent a letter to Biden and Harris’s top HHS officials requesting information on UCs released into the U.S. interior and the adult sponsors they have ended up living with since early 2021.

In February, HHS Inspector General (IG) Christi Grimm published a report revealing that in 22 percent of cases, the agency did not conduct proper and safe follow-up calls to check in with UCs released to adult sponsors in the U.S.

The Department of Labor, in Fiscal Year 2023, found an 88 percent increase in child labor trafficking compared to Fiscal Year 2019. Last year, nearly 6,000 children, many UCs, were discovered illegally working brutal and often life-threatening jobs.

In April of last year, an HHS whistleblower testified before Congress and warned that the agency is operating a “multi-billion-dollar child trafficking operation” where UCs are being mass released to unvetted adult sponsors.

“Some sponsors view children as commodities and assets to be used for earning income —–this is why we are witnessing an explosion of labor trafficking,” the whistleblower said.