Former President Joe Biden’s lackluster attention to the crisis his open border policies created resulted in his administration losing the whereabouts of nearly half the 448,059 unaccompanied children released into America, some ending up in strip clubs.
New estimates based on data provided under the Freedom of Information Act indicate that about 215,000 migrant children who arrived alone at the border during the Biden era are unaccounted for.
That is enough to match the population of Salt Lake City, Utah, the nation’s 111th largest metropolis.
The children were supposed to be placed with known relatives, friends, or approved guardians already in the United States, but many ended up in child trafficking circles, underage sweat shops, and even strip clubs, according to the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general.
Faced with the shocking numbers, the inspector general told a recent House oversight committee hearing that Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Health and Human Services agents were beginning a national search for the children.
“ICE and HHS are now going out in tandem to go and identify where these children are located,” said Inspector General Joseph Cuffari.
He indicated in July that the prior administration did a poor job vetting some of those picked to be guardians of the minors. He said at least 31,000 were placed with people who had no addresses.
The Center for Immigration Studies estimated on Tuesday that about 215,000 minors went missing in the first two years of the Biden administration.
“The data recently obtained by CIS as part of a lengthy and ongoing Freedom of Information Act litigation demonstrated that HHS lost contact with 112,872 UACs after 30 days of being released to sponsors, between January 1, 2021, and December 31, 2023, and the UAC’s safety or whereabouts could not be determined,” said a new report.
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“For fiscal years 2021 and 2022 (i.e., October 1, 2020, through September 30, 2023), roughly the same time period reflected in the data received by CIS, HHS transferred 235,249 UACs into the custody of sponsors around the United States. Thus, based on the data CIS received from its FOIA request, it appears that during the first two years of the Biden administration, HHS lost contact and could not determine the safety or whereabouts of roughly half (48%) of all UACs it transferred to sponsors across the country,” said CIS.
“It can be assumed that the safety and whereabouts of a large portion of the UACs subsequently transferred to sponsors in fiscal years 2023 (113,484) and 2024 (99,326) under the Biden administration are also unknown,” it added.