The Trump administration’s border policies are saving and rescuing the lives of unaccompanied migrant children. Contrary to media-driven narratives, President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem are prioritizing safety, security, and humanity for vulnerable minors.
The Biden administration’s failed and negligent border policies led to tragic outcomes for migrant children. During former President Joe Biden’s tenure, over 320,000 unaccompanied minors disappeared into the U.S. Many fell prey to human or sex trafficking. Several children were among the 53 migrants who died crossing the border after an abandoned trailer reached lethal temperatures inside. Others drowned while attempting to cross the Rio Grande. These preventable tragedies highlight a reckless approach to immigration that failed to protect vulnerable children.
Trump and Noem have drastically improved our border security, and unaccompanied migrant children encounters have dropped as a result. In March 2021, Border Patrol encountered nearly 19,000 unaccompanied migrant children. This number plummeted to just over 600 in March 2025, a 97% decrease under Trump’s watch.
In a commitment to rescue unaccompanied migrant children lost by the Biden administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement this year launched the Unaccompanied Alien Children Joint Initiative. The initiative, led by Noem and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has already reunited over 5,000 unaccompanied minors with relatives or safe guardians in less than 100 days. This targeted operation locates children released by the Office of Refugee Resettlement during Biden’s tenure, protecting them from cartels, traffickers, and environmental dangers.
The need for a task force such as the Unaccompanied Alien Children Joint Initiative stems from the chaos of the Biden era’s open-border policies. Trump and DHS have had to take drastic action to ensure the safety of the hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied migrant children missing in the country. These decisive measures are not only protecting children but also making the world safer by dismantling the networks that exploit them.
This administration’s policies reflect an “America first” approach that saves lives, both American and foreign, by restoring law and order at the border.
Unfortunately, the legacy media is unable to stomach Trump’s successes in securing America and protecting children, so they resort to blatant misrepresentations to undermine his achievements. Their smear campaign thrives on distorting the truth.
For example, the legacy media recently claimed that the administration deported a two-year-old American citizen. This is a gross falsification. The child’s mother, an illegal immigrant from Honduras, had the option to take her toddler with her when she self-deported or leave the child with relatives or safe guardians in the U.S. She chose the former, uncoerced by the U.S. government. The catch is that had she chosen the latter, the media would have accused Trump of “separating families.”
Outlets such as the Guardian further this deception, falsely alleging that ICE targets unaccompanied children for deportation or prosecution. These baseless hit pieces conveniently ignore the reality that Trump’s border policies are saving children’s lives by securing the border, reuniting families, and shielding minors from cartels and traffickers. Far from being merely an American priority, a secure border is a humanitarian necessity that protects the most vulnerable among us.
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Despite the media’s distortions, the truth remains clear: Trump’s policies champion child safety and parental choice. As border czar Tom Homan has emphasized, the administration is committed to keeping families together, even if it means they leave the country as a unit. The media’s worn-out tactics cannot obscure this commitment to safeguarding children and restoring order.
Trump’s border policies don’t just build walls. They build a safer future for children everywhere.
Lance Gooden represents Texas’s 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.