WASHINGTON (AP) — The administration under President Donald Trump is carrying out an extensive, cross-departmental evaluation involving 450,000 unaccompanied child migrants who entered the United States from Mexico during President Joe Biden’s tenure.
Trump’s representatives state they aim to
track down those children
And make sure they remain safe. A significant number of these children arrived in the U.S. during peak times at the border over the past few years and were subsequently placed into households with adult guardians, usually parents, relatives, or close acquaintances.
Supporters of migrants are skeptical about the strategies employed by the Republican-led administration. These methods involve sending Homeland Security and FBI agents to meet with the children. The administration under Trump has adopted a strict stance towards illegal immigrants in the country, leading to various consequences.
small children
Being airlifted out of the country has sparked intense doubt that his administration might utilize the review as a means to deport any supporters or minors who do not have legal residency status within the nation.
U.S. officials state that the adults who took in migrant children as sponsors were not always
properly vetted
This leaves some individuals vulnerable to exploitation. The Department of Justice has charged a man with allegedly luring a 14-year-old girl from Guatemala to the United States and subsequently misrepresenting her relationship to him as his sister in order to obtain sponsorship and custody.
Trump staffers will conduct home visits and interviews.
Senior Trump administration officials anticipate that additional troublesome sponsors will emerge as they conduct home visits and interviews to investigate instances where concerns—totaling approximately 65,000 since 2023—have been raised. This year alone, around 450 such cases involving complaints have been handed over to federal law enforcement authorities, revealed a high-ranking Health and Human Services official speaking anonymously due to lack of authorization for public comments on this ongoing assessment.
“We’re meticulously reviewing each report and every detail—because safeguarding children is not up for choice,” HHS stated in a social media post on X. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seemed to allude to this examination during his appearance.
a Cabinet meeting
with Trump on Wednesday, stating his agency was working to “locate the children.”
For over ten years, the federal government has permitted adults to apply for housing unaccompanied migrant children who arrived at the border without a parent or legal guardian. However, this program faced numerous issues throughout the tenure of the Democratic Biden administration when authorities found themselves overwhelmed by the sudden surge of young arrivals. On several occasions, federal officials neglected to carry out necessary background or address verifications prior to assigning these minors to their guardians. Additionally, in certain cases, those seeking sponsorship submitted blatantly incorrect identity documents.
a federal watchdog report
last year concluded.
Following the issuance of that report, the Biden administration stated they had already taken steps to address the concerns via “training, surveillance, technological advancements, and assessment.”
Thousands of children were placed with lawful guardians.
However, many children were also placed with regular families, and some of these families are now worried that they might be affected by the Trump administration’s review and could face deportation threats, according to Mary Miller Flowers, who serves as the policy director at the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights.
The facility is designated to assist some of the most vulnerable children who arrive at the border. Flowers mentioned that numerous children have been reunited with their parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts, or uncles.
Sometimes, kids might reach the border independently of their parents who already reside in the U.S., reconnecting with family members via this initiative.
Now you’ve got a scenario where the government assesses child welfare and ends up confronting these families’ undocumented parents, leading to deportation,” Flowers explained. “I fail to see how this benefits the children.
The government has taken guardianship of 100 children.
Up until now, approximately 100 children over the last two months have had their sponsorships revoked and were returned to the care of the federal government, usually ending up in privately run facilities, as stated by an official from the health department.
In Cleveland, federal prosecutors assert that an individual residing unlawfully in the United States facilitated this situation by arranging for a 14-year-old girl to obtain a duplicate of his sister’s birth certificate. Subsequently, he organized her travel from Guatemala to the U.S., presenting himself as her sibling. However, neither fingerprints nor DNA tests were conducted to confirm his assertion, noted a high-ranking Justice Department official speaking under conditions of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the ongoing investigation.
In 2024, the man admitted guilt in an Ohio state court to sexually assaulting a child and received an eight-year prison sentence, as stated by officials. He now also confronts federal accusations such as facilitating unlawful immigration for monetary benefit and committing severe identity fraud. His legal representatives chose not to provide any comments on this matter.
As part of the review, the Trump administration is striving to determine the whereabouts of each child who has been entrusted to a sponsor. According to a Justice Department representative, investigators are scrutinizing questionable sponsorship submissions, including what they refer to as “super sponsors,” individuals claiming familial ties to over a dozen unaccompanied minors in certain instances.
Clips and accounts of armed police officers arriving to perform welfare checks at the doors of underage individuals without guardians and their caretakers have emerged from various parts of the nation.
The FBI stated via email that they are carrying out “nationwide” wellness checks as safeguarding children remains a top priority. They also mentioned their ongoing collaboration with federal, state, and local agencies to ensure the protection and wellbeing of those involved.
However, supporters have expressed skepticism that kids would disclose abuses or other issues regarding their guardians to armed federal agency law enforcement officers who are concurrently carrying out widespread deportation initiatives.
The search for children has led to the deportation of several adults.
In Hawaii, homeland security officers have been searching Kona for unattended children and their guardians. As reported in the media, this has led to two families being expelled and one child being returned to federal custody.
from Honolulu Civil Beat
Last month, an attorney from northern Virginia shared footage online showing five federal officers arriving at the residence of their client—a person waiting for a green card—to conduct what appeared to be a welfare visit. In another incident, attorneys reported that around two weeks prior, law enforcement officials dressed in “black, tactical attire,” accompanied by weapons, paid a visit to a 10-year-old boy in Omaha. This child had arrived alone in the United States approximately three years earlier and has been staying with his uncle since then. During this encounter, he faced questioning regarding both his legal proceedings and information concerning his sponsor, as stated by lawyer Julia Cryne.
“They’re employing this method to target the children,” Cryne stated. She also mentioned that her client has recently received approval for their green card application.
The new regulations have made it harder for sponsors.
The Trump administration has significantly changed how the sponsorship program operates. It has reduced financial support for lawyers representing the most at-risk migrant children, resulting in even toddlers and pre-school-aged kids having no government-funded legal assistance.
According to guidelines acquired by the Associated Press, the administration has introduced several new regulations for adults seeking to sponsor an immigrant child. Over the past few weeks, the agency started mandating that sponsors provide fingerprints, undergo DNA tests, and verify their income as part of enhanced vetting processes.
This could pose a challenge for numerous sponsors who either lack an income or are undocumented, according to Flowers. Children remain under federal supervision until they are transferred to a sponsor.
“They have implemented three policies that basically render it nearly impossible for them to exit federal custody,” Flowers stated.
—
Beatrice Dupuy from New York contributed.
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The tale was initially released on May 2, 2025. It was revised on May 5, 2025, to correct the name of Honolulu Civil Beat, rather than the Honolulu Civil Report.
Amanda Seitz and Alanna Durkin Richer from The Associated Press
