The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) uncovered widespread instances of unaccompanied migrant children placed with unvetted sponsors with criminal backgrounds during the Biden administration, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Children who had no parents or legal guardians that were handed over to unvetted sponsors suffered from sexual abuse, forced labor, and neglectful living conditions, ICE stated in a press release in June. The findings stem from a months-long investigation by the agency to ensure the children were safe.
“In February 2025, the Department of Homeland Security and its federal and state partners launched a national child welfare initiative to locate and verify these at-risk kids’ safety,” according to the DHS announcement. (RELATED: ICE’s Todd Lyons Said ‘Unaccompanied Minors’ Were Found At US Businesses ‘That Exploit Human Trafficking’)
Agents found numerous instances where sponsors had previously been charged with serious crimes such as “hit-and-run, aggravated assault, larceny, counterfeiting, drug trafficking, prostitution and even attempted murder,” according to the release.
In some of the most extreme cases, girls were found to be “pregnant with children fathered by their alleged sponsors,” with some minor being forced into labor, the release stated. Some sponsors also had images of child sex abuse material.
ICE and DHS did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“Children’s safety and security is nonnegotiable. The previous administration’s failure to implement meaningful safeguards has allowed vulnerable kids to fall into the hands of criminals. Our special agents are working tirelessly to locate these alien children, ensure their protection, and hold accountable those who have abused the system,” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson Laszlo Baksay said in a prepared statement.
ICE agents are “doing what should’ve been done all along: protecting children,” Baksay continued, adding that this “is the responsibility of any government, Republican or Democrat, but it was the Trump administration that insisted on rigorous sponsor screening and biometric verification.”
Currently under the Trump administration, zero illegal immigrants were released from the southern border into the U.S. in May. Activity along the U.S.-Mexico has fallen to historic lows, with only 6,070 encounters being documented in June 2025.
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