• Over 230,000 unaccompanied minors released into the U.S. under the Biden administration are now unaccounted for, according to a DHS report. Lawmakers warn of systemic failures, potential trafficking, and exploitation as ICE struggles to track their whereabouts amid a growing humanitarian and security crisis.

WASHINGTON, DC (TDR) — The Department of Homeland Security admitted Wednesday that more than 230,000 unaccompanied minors released from U.S. immigration custody during the Biden administration have gone missing—with little or no accountability over where they went or who took them in.

The revelation came during testimony by DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari before the House Oversight Committee, where he detailed systemic failures in vetting sponsors and tracking vulnerable children.

“This is not simply an administrative problem,” Cuffari warned. “It’s a systemic breakdown that poses grave risks to unaccompanied alien children (UACs) and the integrity of our legal immigration system.”

Missing Children, Invalid Addresses, and Court Evasion

According to a March 2025 DHS report, 31,000 children were released to invalid home addresses, and 43,000 failed to appear for court hearings. Those minors can no longer be tracked by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and are now considered at high risk for trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor.

“While some vulnerable children have likely been trafficked… the report also found older teens who were convicted criminals and gang members,” said Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.).

ICE Task Force and Multi-Agency Search Efforts

In February, ICE established a special task force to locate missing children. Working alongside the FBI and U.S. Marshals, the team has visited 50,000 homes so far to identify and conduct welfare checks on over 200,000 minors, according to Cuffari.

Despite the scale of the effort, only partial success has been achieved.

Political Division Over Responsibility

Democrats on the committee deflected blame onto the Trump administration, criticizing what they called “reckless” immigration enforcement.

“Are these little kids the dangerous criminals Trump vowed to go after?” asked Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.), the panel’s ranking member.

The hearing marked the first in a series intended to examine DHS’s mismanagement, assess the failure of interagency coordination with Health and Human Services, and propose reform mechanisms to restore accountability in the treatment of UACs.

How many children must go missing before the system prioritizes protection over politics?

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